


all that's needed for a kingdom is a family

by HaloRocks1214



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bandages, Brother-Sister Relationships, Captivity, Captured, Crying, Curse Breaking, Curses, Family Feels, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mind Break, Mythical Powers, Platonic Cuddling, Reunions, Royalty, Torture, Treason, Whump, Worldbuilding, but mostly Angst tbh, gratuitous cursing, like lots of crying, when youre as traumatized as my ocs you dont care about your language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-06-29 08:35:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 31,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19826452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaloRocks1214/pseuds/HaloRocks1214
Summary: "The happy ending is hardly important, though we may be glad it's there. The real joy is knowing that if you felt the trouble in the story, your kingdom isn't dead." - Lynda BarryIt's Merek's first time having to face a crisis surrounding his family's kingdom as the main leader. His emotions would be a lot more stable if his family wasactuallythere to give him support, not off who knows where or even straight-up being captured.Then again, his family has never been known for having things go their way. They wouldn'tbein this situation if that were the case.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heres the actual thing! this one feels a lot better to me, and im glad i took the time to write it. 
> 
> my OCs are very tactile with each other and not afraid to show platonic affection. if they have a nightmare and need to cuddle with one another then they will goddammit. familial affections are not explored a lot in the media, so im gonna do it with my characters. let my bbies cuddle okay. 
> 
> *coughs* anyway- other than that, the character that kind of gets beat up a lot is a young female so if youre wary of that kind of stuff here's your warning! i want to write the stories i want to write, but i also dont want to make anyone too uncomfortable. with that out of the way, i hope you enjoy!

“Ugh, _‘I want you two to stay home. You’re both very exhausted from last weeks events.’_ Yeah well, you were worse off than us and yet here you are taking a trip halfway across the kingdom!” Ellen threw her hands up in the air, letting the book in her lap fall flat on its back.

Merek rolled his eyes. Turning around from the papers he was reading, his eyes landed on his sister wallowing in pity on the couch. He raised his eyebrow in a teasing motion, “I thought you were the one who wanted him out of the house so you could go into that part of the library?”

Ellen shook her hands (that were still in the air) in a mixture of irritation and discomfort, “Okay, first of all; don’t word it like I’m gonna raid some secret porn stash- I don’t even think porn exists here- and second of all, I’m just worried about him! He looked ready to collapse yesterday.”

Merek sighed and stood up from the table. He couldn’t really argue with that one. He walked over to his sister on the couch who was also standing at this point, stretching her arms over her head. He stood directly in front of her, “I suppose you have a point, but if anything, this reminds me of you. Always standing back up even when your injuries say you shouldn’t. You are his daughter; you’ve had to have gotten it from somewhere.”

Ellen’s arms were back down at her sides, partially pushed down by her brother’s hands being placed on her upper arms. He slid them up to her shoulders in a comforting motion, finishing his movement by leaving them there. She managed a little pout by expanding one of her cheeks, “I wanna take the comfort, but you also dissed me. I can’t take a diss as positive or I’ll implode.”

Merek chuckled and rolled his eyes, “The world will certainly end the day you finally admit you tend to get in over your head,” he felt her playfully glare at him, “So you’re bored. C’ mon, we can either go read about the latest forbidden practice in that book from two weeks ago, or we can go for a walk. It’s up to you.”

Ellen let out a generic sigh, “I’ll take the walk, thank you. Reading the ‘illegal’ section at night feels much more rebellious.” Ellen bounded out of Merek’s arms toward the door, “Come on, Merek! That walk isn’t going to start until those legs start moving!”

Merek rolled his eyes for the last time and followed after his sister, who smiled from outside the doorway, her head being the only thing visible before she completely disappeared. Finally getting outside himself, he walked down their patio before stepping down the stairs. Once he caught up to his sister, they walked side by side into the town.

It was surprisingly full of life today. Not to say that it was void of life all the time, it’s just that there wasn’t anything special going on to warrant such a bustling group of residents. Regardless, the two siblings walked and talked as they enjoyed the atmosphere; dodging the happy children playing tag, as well as ducking and weaving out of the way workers carrying some wood. Glad to see the renovations are being put into place smoothly.

They were greeted by the residents occasionally. Most waved happily at them, and others went the full ten miles and bowed in their direction. Ellen at one point did her shtick where she bent over and grew a flower out of nothing but the grass for a child. She has to do that at least once a week, apparently. Not that Merek was going to tell her to stop.

They were eventually in the town “center”. With where all the houses were located, it wasn’t really the actual center of the Village, but it did feel like the heart of the place. It was a circle of shops with a tavern amidst them all. A fountain stood in the middle of it, with a statue in its center. The statue was a swan with its feathers slightly ruffled, but still completely stretched out to show off its amazing wingspan. It was rusty as all hell, but no one could bring themselves to fix it. It was one of the few remaining things from the original Village.

“-now that I think about it, do you think Father will bring back something special like last time?”

Oh, right, Ellen was talking. Merek snapped back to reality to look at his sister. She stared at him like his opinion could make or break her mood. Like a five-year-old who just got done talking about this really cool stick they found. It was sad, sometimes, how she missed so much of that in her childhood that she could only get it out now.

That wasn’t what he wanted to think about right now, however, “I mean, possibly? If it’s not cooler than that cape though I’m going to be disappointed.”

Ellen ‘pshhed’ and flicked her wrist in disbelief, “You said that about the pure-water jewelry before the cape. I’ll be surprised if you actually own up to your statement this time.”

“Oh, hello there Your Highnesses. I didn’t expect to see you two out here today.”

The two siblings looked away from one another to look at a red-haired, green-eyed, Caucasian lady, wearing a robe that was mainly light-green, outlined with some dark blue. Her name was Quinn, and she had a husband named Tyrone who wasn’t with her currently. While the siblings wouldn’t say the couple was exactly close to their father, the three of them tended to talk a lot considering that the couple was where their father got most of their fruits and vegetables. Acquaintances would be the proper term for their relationship.

“Oh, hello Quinn! How’s the farming going?” Ellen asked, “Where’s Tyrone at?”

The woman in question moved a basket that she was holding to her hip, “He’s going and setting up the shop counter. Now that the growing is done we need to sell it all before it goes bad. We appreciate the royal family helping us out, but we can’t ask you guys can’t fund everything.”

Merek nodded mindlessly as he listened. He stopped at her last sentence. He started speaking sarcastically, “Shh, you’re not supposed to acknowledge we don’t have infinite money in public.”

Ellen rolled her eyes, “Don’t worry, Merek. The majority of our people would cry out heresy if someone dared to think we’re less than perfect.” 

They all chuckled. Before any of them could continue, a group of kids ran past them rather forcefully. Merek and Quinn thought it was kids just being kids and were about to chastise them, but Ellen felt something different was happening. After watching the kids leave her view, she looked back around and stood up from the bench. Her face was serious.

Merek felt his sister’s concern. He stood up next to her, keeping Quinn behind them, “Ellen, what’s wro-”

Next thing he knew, Ellen grabbed him (along with Quinn) and jumped backward. A chain embedded itself in the ground in front of them where they were standing. The siblings were glaring at the where the chain led to. Quinn just stood behind them; mouth open in shock. There was a woman at the end of the chain. She was evilly smiling at them, sending a mix of emotions through their bodies.

She had long, blonde, straight hair down to halfway between the back of her knees and the back of her ankles. Her bangs went down to above her eyebrows and were just as straight and blonde as the rest of her hair. Her outfit was a grey, loose robe with tears in it about every five inches. She had chains wrapped up and down her arms with a belt around her abdomen. The belt was shiny and black, and the chains were, well, chains.

She pulled the chain out of the ground and jumped down to be on the same level as them. All the other people around them were watching the scene. Their emotions ranging from shock to fear to anger to maybe even confusion. This wouldn’t be the first time the royal family has been challenged for a position of power.

This time it felt different. Ellen stepped forward, ignoring Merek’s quiet protest, “Who are you? What do you want?”

The woman chuckled evilly, putting Merek and Ellen even more on edge, “What I want… is for your family to go away, so this place can finally be led the correct way.”

The chain shot out again, and the siblings split apart. Merek grabbed Quinn to get her to safety while Ellen landed on all fours, then immediately shot back up, charging at the woman, wings out and ready to fly. Merek landed a few feet away, placed Quinn back down on her feet, then turned around to watch the commotion.

His sister and the woman were going at it. Ellen kept jumping and attacking from above, but the lady kept managing to block his sister’s attacks. He started running at them himself, hoping to join the fight. Halfway to them, Ellen was caught off guard as the lady struck her across the chest with one of her chains. Merek had to stop so he could catch his sister before she landed roughly on the ground. Once he stopped her movement, Merek placed his sister back down so she could stand.

Once he let go, she flinched and grabbed her chest. That chain did more damage than either of them thought. Merek placed an arm back around his sister while she kept one of her arms on her chest. The evil woman just kept bringing the long chain back to herself so she could use it in an attack like that again.

Merek felt anger bubbling in his chest. Before he could attack in a rage, the lady that attacked his sister dodged vines shooting out of the ground trying to attack. Those vines went on to build a mini wall in between the lady and them. Merek heard footsteps behind them all. Turning himself and his sister around, they let out a gasp at the tannish man that had his arm out in front of him. His black spiky hair along with the bottom of his robes were flapping and shaking due to him using his powers. His robe had the same colors and patterns as Quinn.

Merek was shocked, but also relieved, “Tyrone!”

Tyrone came up to them, still using his Grass abilities to the fullest power. He briefly hugged his wife, “Glad to see you all safe. That lady; she’s not the only one in this attack. I heard others going off to fight more people trying to ambush the Village. Without backup, this place is going under,” Tyrone looked towards the siblings, “We can hold them off. You two flee and get help.

Ellen immediately objected, “What?! We can’t leave all of you here to suffer under these-”

Quinn cut her off, “We know, but you won’t. You’ll be back with help before you know it. Go. We expect you to.”

Merek felt uneasy about the situation as well, but he knew that it was better that they get away and leave their subjects in trouble for only a little bit instead of getting trapped along with them. He grabbed her arm gently, stopping her tirade, “She’s right. We gotta go and get help. Maybe even get Father.”

Ellen struggled with emotions on her face for a minute before sighing. Giving her brother a look that said ‘okay’, the two started running toward the forest edge. In the middle of their getaway, the same lady that hurt Ellen stepped in front of them. She tried doing the same thing; hitting them with her chain like a whip. The siblings just jumped to the side to avoid it, then kept running. Once they got past her, they got back together while still sprinting away.

The two siblings eventually got to the trees and kept running. The woman just glared in that general direction before shaking her head. She knows how to get them back; let them have their fun. Hope is the number one reason people let their guard down.

Back in the forest next to the Village, the only thing in Merek’s head as he ran away next to his sister was, ‘Of course this happens when our father isn’t here. Wouldn’t be a life-altering crisis if our family was here to help.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please do let me know of any glaring typos that interrupt your reading! criticism is alright as long as you're respectful about it~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	2. Chapter 2

Ellen’s chest is way sorer than she’s letting on.

That or Merek knows he won’t be able to coax the truth out of her right now. Either way, he’s not pushing the fact that his sister is currently breathing way more heavily than she would normally, even after running like all hell broke loose back there. Which it did. Which is why he’s probably not bringing it up. It’s why she’s not either. It’s also making her go in circles with her thoughts.

And making them go in circles in real life.

Ellen groaned for more reasons than one, “Merek! We already passed that tree!”

Merek just squinted his eyes. He knows that they’re going in circles; he did that deliberately because there were certain noises that he’s heard since they stopped running. He grabbed his sister’s shoulder and yanked her down into the bushes, not looking at her and keeping his line of sight out on the pathway they were on, “Shhh! Be quiet.”

Ellen widened her eyes at her brother before looking outside the bush in the same direction as him. A group of people in various colored robes (they all had some kind of grey on them, however) walked past them rather quickly, probably assuming that the siblings were still walking in whatever direction they chose, not hiding in the bushes right next to them. The two siblings shared a momentary glance at one another before they continued to watch the (presumed) henchmen walk further away.

Once the two of them no longer heard any footsteps, they stood up and walked away from that pathway, figuring out a new direction to take. Ellen was still breathing hard, both from her chest and from the strain of trying to stay on top of this situation, “Goddammit, the one time Father leaves us to watch over everything is the one time a crazy-ass group decides to launch its plans to try and take us out!”

Merek could only sigh and rub the back of his neck. Despite everything, he agreed with her sentiment. Still, he could probably use that sentiment to make her feel better. He placed a hand on her shoulder, catching her attention, “It’s our family life, really. We save the world one day and are barely given time to rest. Not that that’s ever stopped you, though. So many times I’ve just wanted to tie you to your bed so you would actually sleep.”

Still breathing heavily, Ellen let out a chuckle while looking at her feet in a feeling that could only be described as feeling lost, “Don’t start calling the kettle black right now, man, you already told me this earlier; my reply to it hasn’t changed. Anyway, we gotta figure out a way to take these people down. The first step is to go find help, but which kind? More importantly, where?”

Merek took his hand off her shoulder, “Beats me. I don’t really know anything outside the Village yet. Or at least directions to other places.”

Ellen put a hand on her chin, “Well if I remember correctly, the Ice Settlement should be in that direction,” she pointed just a little bit to the right of where they were walking, “Wanna try that way?”

Merek just shrugged, prideful of his sister’s quick thinking and memory, “It’s as good as it gets. Let’s head out.”

Which is what they did. They needed to crouch in the bushes a few more times to hide, but otherwise, they made it swiftly to the border of the forest. They actually thought they would be able to walk out Scott-Free, but alas, their luck struck them down yet again. Ellen felt it coming and subsequently shouted, “Look out!” before shoving Merek down to the ground. They landed a few feet away, Ellen on top of Merek. 

Yeah, he’s not letting her shield him without returning the favor, especially since _she’s_ the injured one. Standing up quickly, Merek ended up being in between his sister and their attackers. Where they were originally standing was full of extremely sharp spikes sticking out of the ground. Yeesh, good thing she moved them. Though, from the way she was breathing, the movements were no help to her already aggravated chest.

That was when their _two_ attackers showed themselves.

They were both Caucasian, with the one on the left sporting black, smooth hair with a length that was cut off right above his chin. His bangs were spiky as crap but managed to stay close to his forehead. His partner in crime, the boy on the right, had a long pony-tail loosely tied. The ends of the pony-tail fell to the middle of his back. He had no bangs, and his hair was your stereotypical brown color. His robe was dirty with dark smudges on it everywhere. You almost couldn’t tell that it was a lighter tan than his hair because of the dirtiness. The boy on the left was the complete opposite, with a robe so clean it looked like it was new. You could see the lavender colors radiating off of it from a mile away. 

The boy on the right grinned gleefully. The one on the left just apathetically stared.

Ellen let out a generic, “Oh shit.”

Merek inhaled sharply. He realized it too.

These guys were the two causing all the pranks in the Village. They kept managing to get away from Ellen and her Guardians, but now they came willingly. The siblings bet it wasn’t to surrender. With the way that they were chased, it doesn’t surprise them that the evil lady would resort to anything to catch them at this point. Even recruiting the young troublemakers in need of a home.

This sucks. The siblings could definitely beat them on a good day. It’s probably why the two troublemakers kept running when they were cornered instead of fighting. But today wasn’t a good day. Ellen and Merek were _tired._ Ellen was even _injured._ This fight should be easy any other day of the week.

So it had to happen today.

Oh, joy.

\---

The fight was actually easier than they expected.

The boys were just pranksters, not warriors. They were clearly not trained to deal with any fighting scenario, let alone one with this capacity. Ellen and Merek have been fighting the majority of their lives. Even when they were tired, they could take on stupid kids who didn’t know any better. 

There was just one small issue.

It wasn’t too bad, per se. Growing up, Merek knew about the powers he had but never used them. He kind of thought they were just stupid, and thus didn’t train with them. Nowadays, while they still aren’t his preferred way of combat, he knows how to wield them and when. Still, when it came to battles that were power-heavy, he was still underdeveloped. If he wasn’t super careful, his enemies could overtake him. Like this fight; the kid in the light tan robes was Ground, so he was able to trap Merek’s feet and nearly incapacitate him many times.

On the other end of the spectrum was Ellen, who’s been trained to use her abilities since day one. She’s had ups and downs surrounding them and her ‘duty’ or whatever they call it, but she’s never regretted being able to have them. She knows how to use a wide variety of her powers, sometimes being able to use more than one at the same time. Like right here; she has to focus on the Psychic kid (the lavender robes) and use her own Ground abilities to make sure Merek was free so he didn’t get clonked over the head by a giant rock on multiple occasions.

It was tiring, but she’s done more multitasking in harder fights before.

However, while they were winning the fight, the kid with the tan robes said something that stopped Ellen cold for only a moment.

“Hurry up and close the wall off, idiot! We need to get _somebody!_ ”

Well, shit. That’s not good. The wall around the Village and subsequent kingdom usually wasn’t really a ‘wall’. It was this illusion of sorts that, when walked through, nothing happened. If you weren’t given permission, you’d just continue walking through a forest. However, for people like Ellen and Merek’s family and friends, who were given permission, when they walked through it, it transformed into a bustling town with a wide variety of people.

It was possible to make it an actual wall if you had Psychic abilities. Which this kid did. Great.

Ellen finally connected the dots after all of that.

Ellen was injured. Merek was not. She was, by all technicalities, a weakness right now. Also, from how it sounds, these guys only really need one of them for the time being (though having both would be nice, apparently). If both of them are captured, then they can’t get help. It’s an easy decision in Ellen’s eyes.

Freeing Merek from the ground around his legs once more, Ellen gripped his arms tightly before whispering, “Sorry.” Using what strength she had left, she spun her brother around a few times to build momentum. Then, she tossed him. He flew through the air before landing on the ground with an “oof” and bouncing the rest of the way. He barely slid under the rapidly closing wall, completely disappearing from Ellen’s vision.

There, he’s safe. Everything will work out in the end. Hopefully, he’ll find someone.

Right as Ellen took a deep breath, chains shot out from the trees and wrapped around her arms, pulling them behind her back and making her fall to her knees. She gasped out in shock but mostly due to the pain. _Holy fuck,_ what is up with these things? Were they heated up before they were used? Because what Ellen needs at this point is more burn scars, obviously.

Stepping out of the shadows was that same blonde-haired lady from before, grinning like a madwoman, “Well done you two! Look at what we were able to snag!”

‘I think it was mainly them to be fair,’ Ellen may not like the situation she threw herself into, but she hates it when credit is unfairly stolen from anyone. She’s respectable like that, unfortunately.

The lady walked right next to the boys and stood there. Ellen may not have been looking at her, but Ellen could feel the disappointment radiating from the lady, “Tell me, where’s the boy?”

The one in the lavender robes answered. He was slightly panting, clearly exhausted from using his powers to put up the barrier, “The girl here made sure he got away and gave herself up. It’s part of the reason we had a chance to take her down in the first place.” 

The lady thinned her lips while looking at Ellen. This was troublesome indeed, “If I knew there was going to be a willing participant I wouldn’t have had you curse these chains,” ah, that explains some things. The lady turned back to the boys, “Nonetheless: Demetrius, please come back with me. I’m sure His Graciousness will be most pleased. Aramis,” well, at least Ellen knows their names now, “If you have the energy for it, I would much appreciate you going after the other one before he can get too far.”

Ellen got angry at the mention of her brother, “Hey! You have me, don’t you?! You don’t need to- _ah-_ ”

The lady was glaring, pulling the chains to shut Ellen up, “Shut your mouth, wench.” The lady yanked on the chains again, hard enough to get Ellen to stand. Ellen doesn’t need to remind anybody that they still hurt like hell, “Now then. Let’s move.”

Whether it was her belief that her brother could save her or the pain that seared down her arms, she complied. It was humiliating, really. She felt like a dog being taken on a walk. It didn’t help that the lady tugged on the chains every few minutes, making it worse. It was either to teach Ellen a lesson or just because it was fun. Ellen didn’t care to know. Oh, and Demetrius was also making whatever he put on the chains feel just the absolute worse! 

Fan-fucking-tastic.

Ellen groaned for a lot of reasons. In the end, this wasn’t the worse she’s ever been through. A small part of her brain is hoping this will be over quickly anyway. After all, she has a back-up plan. It was currently running for its life in the forest, and with her life on the line, it’ll be working overtime to finish this once and for all.

You got this Merek. Ellen knows you do.

\---

Merek finished sliding against the ground. He sat up and gasped while staring at the wall with wide eyes. Running over to the wall, he started pounding it. He just made ripples similar to water when his fists connected. Seeing as he was getting nowhere, his hands stayed on the wall as he slowly slid down it to his knees, keeping his eyes wide and trying not to hyperventilate.

 _Idiot. Idiot. Fucking **idoit!**_ What the hell was she thinking?!

That was a rhetorical question. Merek very much knows what she was doing. That still didn’t make it any less fucking _stupid!_ Shit, what’s he supposed to do?

‘Get help, dumbass,’ the Ellen his mind made up said. Not actual Ellen. She can do that with him- communicate telepathically- but he’s pretty sure she’s not going to try it now. Taking a deep breath, he shakily stood up and turned away from the wall. Looking out over the expansive forest, he took his first step in a random direction.

He may not know exactly where he’s going, but he knows what he wants. With that information alone, he should be able to find _something._ Not only does he have a village to save, this now involves _Ellen’s life._ That’s certainly an incentive for him to get off his ass even more than before.

\---

Ellen’s chest was frankly a blessing compared to how her arms felt right now.

No wonder her chest hurt for so long, whatever this lady had _Demetrius_ put on these chains fucking _hurt._ If Ellen’s chest took that long to calm down, lord knows what her arms are going to go through after such a long exposure to the stuff. The worst part was that she didn’t even take them off once Ellen got back to the Village.

Ellen walked past her subjects as she was led to the middle. All in all, they seemed to be rather okay physically, just scared and frightened by all the big guards and soldiers these people brought. From Ellen’s understanding, as long as her subjects follow the orders of these people, nothing will happen to them. Most of them will, but the ones that won’t? Merek needs to save them all ASAP.

Well, at least these people work fast, goddamn. In the center next to the fountain was a newly built throne made out of discarded swords and shields. At least, Ellen hopes they’re discarded. However, what caught her eye was the giant man sitting in. He was wearing armor with gaps over his abdomen, neck, and around his knees, ankles, and elbows. It’s protective armor that allows for a lot of movement. Makes sense considering the giant ass sword stuck in the ground completely separate to the throne that was probably his.

“You’re Graciousness,” the woman tightened the chains around Ellen’s arms, pulling both of those things taut behind her back and making her gasp in pain, “Some of your loyal followers helped me bring you a valiant gift. You may do whatever you please with it.” The lady tugged on the chains so Ellen would fall to her knees.

The man slowly stood up, and Ellen wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that she was staring at the ground instead of him. She was also staring at the ground partially due to how wide her eyes were because of fear. The last thing she wants everybody to see was how scared she was. Eventually, she saw the feet of the man. Then, she felt him grab her chin rather forcefully and lift her face up to look at him in the eyes. Has Ellen mentioned her arms are still burning due to the chain being around them and yanking them behind her back?

As the man moved her face around to examine it, Ellen was doing her own fair share of examining his… helmet. Damn armor. Outside of how tacky it looked, the only noticeable thing was that there was a giant break in the shape of a vertical line over his left side. Like those cool eye scars people have in movies to show that they’re traumatized to boot.

Apparently, it finally dawned on the man, “The Princess? Interesting… who caught her?”

Jesus, she’s not some animal. The lady responded, “It was thanks to Demetrius and Aramis that she fell in battle. Demetrius is currently resting somewhere here, but Aramis is out chasing after the Prince with a promise not to fail.” The lady bowed at the beginning and was still bowing now.

The man let out a ‘hmm’ and finally let go of Ellen’s anxiety-filled face, allowing her to breathe, “Bring Demetrius to me for a private conversation. Take the Princess to the inner parts of the cages. She might not have tried anything yet, but knowing the Royal Family, she will eventually.”

The lady kept smiling evilly, “Of course. What wonderful plans for the future, loved one,” ah, they’re lovers. That makes more sense than Ellen would like. The chains painfully yanked Ellen up to her feet, making her gasp again, “Come along, heathen. Hopefully, you won’t face anything worse than this.”

Oh, Ellen knows she will. Probably nightmare-inducing stuff too. It’s run of the mill at this point. Now that the fear of being directly in front of that man is gone, Ellen can go back to focusing on the pain in her arms. She’d rather they be literally _on fire_ than this fake feeling. The actual fire would be less painful than this.

Finally, Ellen got her wish granted. The lady pulled the chains off of Ellen, but immediately roughly shoved her into a cage and locked the door. Ellen let out a grunt of pain when she landed at the same time the sound of a door locking could be heard. Ellen looked back up from the ground to stare at the lady directly. Ellen mustered up the biggest glare possible.

The lady noticed and just simply rolled her eyes, “Don’t worry, little one. Your brother will be with you soon enough.” And with that, the lady was gone.

With an exhaust-filled sigh, Ellen dropped the glare and shakily stood up, gripping her arms close to her body. There was literally nothing that indicated that this was a cage outside the bars and door. No bench, not table, hell, there wasn’t even a bed! Ellen was going to have to sleep on the cold hard floor. Like being freezing cold was going to help her situation at all. Ellen wanted to grab the bars but remembering how badly her arms felt at the moment, she decided she didn’t want to take that chance and find out if her cage was cursed as well.

Leaning against the wall, Ellen slowly slid down it, keeping her arms to her body as much as possible. She also barely held back the little number of tears that threatened to leak out of her eyes. This was a clusterfuck of epic proportions. Not only did she hate what happened to the Village under their watch, but she also hated that she left her underprepared brother to the mercy of the land and these people. Her brother was amazing at fighting, but understanding these powers and heritage? Nothing.

And her arms still felt like the chains were wrapped around them as tight as possible. Blotchy, red lines wrapped around them too, showing anyone who was willing to look at her what kind of damage that lady’s chains could cause. It just occurred to Ellen that she still doesn’t know any of their names. Outside of the two boys the siblings fought, no names were ever said around her.

Great. Just fantastic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please do let me know of any glaring typos that interrupt your reading! criticism is alright as long as you're respectful about it~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	3. Chapter 3

Pushing his way through the bushes, Merek decided to take in his surroundings. He’s been walking for a day at least, and he’s not really sure how close or far away he is now. What he does know is that he needs a break. If his feet were absolutely killing him, then his stomach is in the process of _murdering_ his very being. He can usually handle hunger pretty well, but since he’s been running and running, it’s worse than normal. All he needs is a quick five-minute break and then he’ll feel good as new.

But right as he sat down, he remembered what happened. He remembered why his sister isn’t with him. He remembered her labored breathing and pain-filled face. He stood up again and kept moving, more determined than ever.

He can’t afford to rest just yet. Ellen and the Village are counting on him. Once he can get somewhere completely safe and inform the people there what happened, that’s when he’ll get the chance to sit down-

Or he can get it right now. Merek felt something in his gut, and it wasn’t just the hunger. Ellen told him that when he feels this specific way, he needs to duck and cover before anything else. Rolling out of the way, he stopped and stayed on one knee. With a fist on the floor, Merek looked up to see a giant spike where he was originally standing.

One that was made from nothing else other than the ground.

Sharply inhaling, he looked to his right to see a familiar tan robe.

He then sighed. Hooray. 

\---

The boy was over him, giant rock in hands, and Merek’s life flashed before his eyes.

It didn’t really bother him. Both he and his sister had a fairly unhealthy relationship to death itself, so neither of them could really care when they ended up in the hospital yet again (much to each other’s and their families’ dismay). However, this time felt different. Merek was finally able to keep up and not get his feet trapped every five minutes, but the kid realized this. He stopped and looked for a different way to get on top, which he did. He quickly zoomed to a place that Merek couldn’t follow, made his giant weapon, then jumped up and caught the Prince off guard.

With fear-filled eyes on his face, Merek knew he wouldn’t be able to dodge in time.

And that sucked. As stated, Merek wasn’t really afraid of dying anymore (neither was Ellen), but right now, it terrified him. He had a _mission_ to do and he was going to fail it right here and now. He was going to fail the Village. He was going to fail his _sister,_ which he promised to never do again after everything they’ve been through. His mind thought rapidly on what he could do to live, so his body just responded by slowly closing his eyes.

Right before the giant rock could crush his skull in, Merek felt dainty arms pick him up and carry him away. And carry him away they did. Holy _shit,_ he felt that they moved for about two or three seconds and all of a sudden, when he opened his eyes, he was in a completely new area. Blinking a few more times in shock to try and register what just happened, a hyper voice spoke from behind his right ear.

“Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh! Merek, Jesus, are you alright?! A couple of us caught wind of what happened and immediately rushed over and I’m super glad we did! That was really close. I mean- we couldn’t even get into the Village! I-”

Merek finally started to feel his toes again, “Y-yes, Nikki, I’m alright. Thanks for the save.”

Looking up into light brown eyes, Merek stared at none other than Nikki. He sometimes has trouble remembering the names of Ellen’s team (the Guardians, as they’ve been formally named), but as he’s learned, he’ll never forget brown, frizzily-haired and way too many freckles than a normal human should have Nikki. She was crazy and hyperactive, but she was also quick on her feet and managed incredible rescues due to the speed she has. Her Electric powers can practically be lightning sometimes, and Merek will always remember her because of it.

Merek was breathing heavily at this point, “You keep saying ‘we’. Are the others with you?”

Nikki rapidly shook her head, “Yup! I got a couple of them. Not all of them, but enough to form a sizable chunk from our ranks.”

Before Merek could ask which ones, a semi-large explosion came from where Merek assumed he originally was before Nikki came in and swept him away. Jumping out of the smoke with their tail between their legs was that kid that attacked Merek. He was absolutely terrified. The kid was practically in tears as he ran for the hills away from the other Guardians. Following behind him was a shaggy, greyish-brown-haired guy. He had a rather square jawline and dark-green eyes to boot, “That’ll teach ya, you smartass! Get your training from a better Ground user!”

Right, that was the Ground one. Merek always remembered him due to his really convenient name. It had something to do with the earth and ground… oh, right! Clifford, nicknamed Cliff. Ellen gave him that nickname when he got his powers and it’s stuck since. Merek always thought that one was pretty funny. Nothing like coincidental irony to get a good laugh out of someone.

But as far as Merek was concerned, Ground couldn’t create explosions of any kind. So that meant there was at least someone else here. And there was. As Cliff walked to Nikki and Merek, two more people came walking out of the bushes away from the fight area. One of them wore grey, rectangle-shaped glasses with bright-green eyes behind them. The guy in question also had bright orange and wavy hair down to his shoulders. His back was covered in a fire in the shape of mock wings. Next to him walked a dude with dull-black hair that was slightly spikey yet smooth at the same time. His eyes were grey, and he also had fake wings on his back. His were made of ice.

The Guardians, to signify their status, had wings on their back as Ellen did, only theirs were made out of their respective power. Some of them were actual wings that could work (like the Grass and Steel ones), and others were there just for the aesthetic (Nikki and the fire one came to mind). Ellen’s wings were actual wings of course. She used them to train the ones that could fly. It’s suspected that if the others worked hard enough, they _could_ end up flying, but they haven’t really had the time to test it out.

So the other two Nikki brought were the Fire and Ice Guardians. Great, Merek just needed to remember their names now. Which shouldn’t be hard, considering the one with ice on his back was very peeved at the one with fire.

“Rufus! C’ mon, man! Why did you keep melting my attacks?! I thought you were working on that?”

“Psh, loosen up, Devon! You can just freeze it again! It’s _fine._ ”

“I can’t freeze what’s invisible in the air, dumbass.”

“Then why can I light invisible stuff on fire, _dumbass?_ ”

Right, that was their names. Rufus and Devon: Fire and Ice… Man, Merek has miraculously not had a headache the entire time. That small streak of luck might be broken now, and of course, it would be over the dumbest reasons...

Standing up and brushing off his clothes, Rufus finally walked over to him handed something to him, “Here. We figured whoever we found would need a disguise. Sorry, it’s, uh, a little burnt.” 

Raising an eyebrow, Merek took the cloth. It unfurled to reveal a cloak with a hood. As Rufus said, the tips at the end of the cape part were burnt. Rolling his eyes, Merek put it on anyway. A disguise was smart right now, especially considering there were people out there that wanted to _kill_ him.

The Guardians said nothing. They stood silently, waiting for his orders. Taking a deep breath, hood over his face, he spoke, “Alright, let’s move out.”

The four Guardians that were with him all nodded their heads just once and followed his lead with no further questions. 

\---

“Rufus so help me god if another joke comes out of your mouth I will tape it shut.”

“Shh! I’m getting to the good part! Anyway, then-”

Merek sighed again. Ellen warned Merek that the method of threats tends to not follow through due to how many are said jokingly to them, especially from herself. From his understanding, if you laughed while saying “if you don’t stop I’m gonna beat you up” was a sign that the other person in question was being funny. Merek never really got that, but then again, he’s accepted the fact that he would never fully understand his sister in the end (partially due to his own fault). Merek thought deep in his mind as he looked straight ahead.

Merek sometimes feels like he gives off a bad impression to these guys. He does respect them. He does. Ellen picked them _for a reason._ She’s goofy and silly at times, but Ellen would never give such an important role to just anyone. They must have proved themselves to her. And they prove themselves to him. Daily. Ellen personally trains them too, so it’s not like they use their powers to goof off (too much). It’s also been made apparent that if Ellen was unavailable, and Merek was in the vicinity, he would be the one to take charge. So if he didn’t have respect for them (which he didn’t before), he needs to get it fast.

He does now. He has a lot of it too. Ellen picked good people. They were fiercely loyal, and even Merek had to admit that knowing when to be funny and uplifting in a shitty situation is an _insanely_ good and important skill. Still, that didn’t mean he had to like their, er, “spastic” sense of humor all the time. Ellen has the same one, and it makes him groan at times all the same. He pulled the hooded cloak around him tighter.

Rufus had stopped talking by this point. After a few moments of blessed silence, Cliff spoke up calmly, “Hey, uh, do you have any idea on where to go, dude?”

Merek shrugged and kept looking forward, “I’ve just been walking at this point. I’m kind of hoping we’ll stumble into something eventually. I haven’t had the time to fully learn where everything is located just yet.”

It went back to silence after that. Then, Nikki gasped, “Oh, I know! Harris was out visiting the Grass people. We should head there!”

Before Merek could point it out, Devon did for him, “Cool idea. Um, where is that from here exactly?”

A brief moment of awkward silence filled the area. The Guardians, normally, would be able to find their way around. Ellen probably made them memorize locations and directions on day one. But they’re currently in the middle of nowhere and anxious about everything around the corner that could attack them. Not a very good combination even on the best of days, let alone when it’s critical that they find a place of refuge as soon as possible.

Well, at least they don’t have to worry about figuring that out right now.

Merek was looking at the four of them with a hand on his chin when Rufus looked behind him. He caught sight of a metallic glint in the trees. It looked suspiciously like an arrow. One that was aimed at Merek, “Hey! Look out!”

Merek flinched out of the way just in time so Rufus could send a blast of fire into the trees where the attacker was. The group of five watched as the attacker shot his arrow off in another direction due to having to dodge, the arrow lodging itself into a tree next to Devon. The attacker jumped down from the tree with another arrow drawn. Merek made note of the green, _leafy_ armor the guy was wearing.

Merek and the four Guardians stood taut. This fight shouldn't be that hard.

Then, dropping from the trees around them was about six more people in the same regalia as the first. Some held bows, others carried shields and swords. All of their visions were directed at the wayward group. They each held glares like something fierce, signifying that they weren’t happy Merek and his gang stepped into their land.

The worst part was that Merek knew that armor from something. He read about it somewhere. God, what did it mean? Well, whatever it did, he would need to think while fighting. In their standoff, one of the bow wielders took a shot at Merek. It was intercepted by Nikki, bless her speed, who saw it was fired and grabbed it a few inches from Merek’s face.

After a second of taking in what happened, the Guardians pounced, initiating the battle. Merek eventually started fighting one of the ones with a sword and shield. He mainly dodged and blocked since he wanted to focus on that _armor._ The sooner he figures it out, the easier everything will be for them.

C’ mon, idiot, think! What does it mean?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please do let me know of any glaring typos that interrupt your reading! criticism is alright as long as you're respectful about it~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	4. Chapter 4

Walking out of the council room, Egon let out a small yawn.

The issue was resolved rather quickly in the end. The Water Generals wanted to create a new training area close to one of the Ground’s training areas. Considering the weakness between the two, the Ground people vehemently objected. Seeing as neither side would budge, the Ground Lady and Lord requested Egon’s presence to resolve the matter.

Jewel and Ravid were closer to him than some of the other leaders, so, after talking it out with Merek and Ellen, he discreetly flew his way over to the Ground Compound and played the mediator. It was tiring, but eventually, Egon convinced the Water Generals to just move their plans over a few hundred feet with the promise that he would be there to help them personally. Really, they just wanted to make a rather large pond and flatten the field around it. It wouldn’t be that hard for them to readjust their building plans for a new area like that. 

But alas, with so many years under his belt just being a King, he’s learned how stubborn people can be. Including himself, much to his dismay. He’s learned over the years when and where to stand his ground or be complacent, but in the past two, he’s learned better tactics in the way of compromise.

Sometimes he still couldn’t believe it. His family was still _alive._ He almost wanted to block out that feeling that led him to the outside world two years ago; it wouldn’t have been the first time he followed the signal of lost hope. However, when he looked into his daughter’s eyes in that cafe (and eventually his son’s), he promised to never ignore another feeling like that again. However, it has been a bumpy road. Again; he could be stubborn with his ideals and rules.

But, with his kids’ never-ending help and support, they’ve been able to form some semblance of a family again. That was worth every bump in the round to come. Considering Ellen and Merek were told it was never possible (told that they were the _last of their people_ ), Egon was willing to change just about anything in the Kingdom to make them happy. But then he takes a small step back and realizes how much his kids were like him. They would hate it if everything was changed overnight just to suit them (even though they deserve it). 

So, over the past two years, the three of them (with outside help occasionally) learned when and where to keep things traditional, or when to fix the Kingdom to make it more “modern”. Decisions over that topic will still happen, and probably will never stop needing to be made, but considering the ultimatum of “the Kingdom will fruitfully prosper” or “the Kingdom will fall into utter despair and agony”, they think they’ve done pretty well, especially since they originally thought that the latter of the options was happening to them (again, Merek and Ellen were told they were the last of their kind).

Egon had a grin on his face throughout that entire thought train. He was so damn proud of them sometimes.

He heard the doors open behind him. Raising an eyebrow with that grin still on his face and not turning around, Egon talked to his friends, “Any major arguments break out again while I stood out here?”

Jewel walked up next to him and let out a sigh, “None, thank God. We’re sorry for such short notice, but nobody wanted to even lean a little to understand the other side! It was absolutely ridiculous.”

Ravid grinned at his wife from the other side of Egon, “What she said. We hoped to figure it out ourselves, but threats kept making their way into the conversation. In the end, we, unfortunately, conceded and called for your help.”

Egon was still smiling, but now it was because of the situation at hand, “Think nothing of it, my friends. If I couldn’t leave the Village for a couple of days, especially with Ellen and Merek there, then I must be an awful ruler, and last I checked, I was doing okay.”

The three of them bantered for a minute like good friends before being interrupted by the sound of feet slapping on the ground. It was footsteps sprinting to get to them from around the corner. Back then, Egon wondered how his children could come to hate themselves so much (and wonder where the people who made them think that way were), but when things like what was about to happen kept _happening,_ he slowly but surely found that he hated himself sometimes too. 

Irony was one cruel bitch (as Ellen stated many times).

The person that was running was the royal message boy for the Ground Compound. He was panting and clearly terrified, “Your Majesties! I’ve been told by the medics to bring you with me at once. Even His Royal Majesty.”

The three leaders looked between themselves with uncertainty. Each taking a gulp in their own way, they carefully followed behind the boy. Once they got into the medbay and were led to the person that they needed to see, they all gasped in horror.

His pants signified that he was a simple Poison man with Grass outlines. He laid in a bed, breathing heavily in pain and agony. His shirt was gone, and Egon could only assume what was causing such pain was the blotchy, red marks all over his chest and arms. It looked like a bad rash to most, but Egon knew exactly what it was.

“The Kerizian Curse…” Egon just kept staring in disbelief while Jewel and Ravid gasped around him. They knew what it was too, but they didn’t want to accept the fact that such horrible people still existed. It was illegal for a reason. Egon sat down and gently leaned closer to his subject, using his most King-ly demeanor he could, “Tell me, sir, what happened to you?”

Breathing through his nose, the man told Egon everything he could, “Trip to Village got interrupted… Attack… Taken over… Barely escaped with my life-” The man finished his statement by gasping out in pain.

Egon must have been masking his panic very well, considering he tuned out what the man was saying after “attack”. Taking a deep breath, he used some of his healing abilities while deep in thought. Crap, an attack? On his Village where he lived? Where his _children_ lived? These attackers better pray they haven’t done too much to his kids, otherwise they’ll wish they didn’t attack his Kingdom for that reason alone.

“-from other witnesses, it appears that the Village has been overrun. When asked, they couldn’t comment on where the Prince and Princess were. It’s believed-”

Egon stopped listening to the doctor talking to Jewel and Ravid. His kids haven’t been _spotted?_ There are so many reasons for that, and Egon didn’t like the majority of them. Taking a deep breath, he stopped healing the man, satisfied with all he could do for his subject.

Standing up abruptly, he was excused out of the room with no words. On his way out, he noticed one of the other rescuees. His rage was heightened, but his fear and guilt were also made worse. In the bed was _Quinn_ with similar injuries. Oh, these people were going to feel all of his fury…

After he found Merek and Ellen. As much as it sucks, he _knows_ that, in the end, prioritizing family and friends over the majority would eventually lead to worse circumstances for them all, but the fact that _he_ left them _alone_ to deal with this made his panic overdrive worse than normal. Before he could make any rash decisions, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Shit, how long has he been pacing? He should probably stop.

Looking around, he spotted Ravid with a sympathetic look. Behind him was Jewel sporting a similar look, yet both of them had another look in common: determination. Ravid kept staring at Egon, both as a fellow leader and a near and dear friend, “We’ll do anything we can, Your Majesty. This land is ours as much as it’s yours.”

Jewel slowly nodded her head, “We’ll have soldiers ready by tonight. Give us the call, and they’ll go wherever you want them.”

Remembering how both Merek and Ellen told him to rely on allies more, Egon took a deep breath, “Thank you, friends. Before any of that though, I’d really appreciate being able to leave this place within the next hour at most.”

An hour on the dot later, Egon had a cloak around his shoulders and his wings ready to go. Jewel and Ravid loaded him with everything he needed, and he would never regret having them as some of his close friends. He took another deep breath. He’s been a good and faithful King the majority of his life, and he plans to keep being that right now, but if part of him nowadays wanted to just be a father of his, albeit adult, children, then only he and they had to know. Looking out over the expansive land, he stretched out his wings and took off.

He’s willing to fly until the sun sets over the horizon. He’ll even chase it until he can get where he needs to go. That’s what his children would do, and they were stronger and smarter than him in many ways he feels.

He pushed his speed a little faster.

\---

Ducking under a swipe from the sword and allowing it to embed itself in the tree behind himself, it hit Merek like a freight train what that armor was.

It’s leafy because it’s the typical _Grass_ Soldier regalia! God, he was a dumbass sometimes. If the soldiers were here, attacking them, then that must mean they were close to where they mainly lived. Since he figured out what the armor was, his next issue was to get these people to stop attacking him and the Guardians so they can work this out. He was originally wanting to talk it out while they attacked, but a swipe from the sword that landed on his back made him realize that being nice right now wasn’t going to work out. Probably.

The cut wasn’t deep. It was like an elongated scratch more than anything, but that didn’t stop Merek from gasping when it happened. It also doesn’t make him want to put any kind of unfavorable liquids over it anytime soon (even though he will have to). Getting a few feet away from his attacker, it finally dawned on Merek _why_ they were attacking him. 

He was _disguised._ They didn’t know who he was, and considering the news about the attack on the Village had probably reached other places by now, the Grass one wouldn’t want to take any chances. Why they didn’t recognize the Guardians either probably had to do with lack of knowledge on what they looked like and/or fear of mind-control (they didn’t know what the attackers could do so, really, anything was possible to them).

Turning his feet to get a better grip on the ground and standing up straight, Merek pulled out his most ‘Commander’ voice possible, “ _Alright!_ All of you, _listen up!_ We don’t have a lot of time so if you could knock this _bullshit_ off, that’d be _great!_ ”

When his hood fell off his face, every single Grass soldier stopped. Some dropped their weapons, others gasped, and the rest just froze. They figured out who they were attacking, and man, it did not look good for their futures, “Your- Your Highness?!”

Neither Merek nor Ellen didn’t _like_ using their status to gain a one-up on others (hence when they explored the Village they were _usually_ disguised), but right now, Merek _needs_ this advantage, “Yes, it’s me. These are also some of the Princess’ Guardians. We’re trying to escape the calamity that overtook the Village.”

All of the soldiers bowed in response, the one closest to Merek even speaking, “We’re sorry for this grievance we committed! Please, forgive us!”

Merek had to find his words for a second. He was used to people following his orders as a leader, not a prince. He took a deep breath, “At ease, soldiers. I get why this all went down. I would have attacked suspicious people coming into my land as well. There’s no reason for all of… this.” He finished his statement by waving his hands in front of him awkwardly. He wasn’t looking at them, but the Guardians must have made some kind of movement to say the same thing without words.

The soldiers stood back up and took a collective sigh of relief. The one (presumably) in charge stepped forward to stand in front of Merek. He held a hand out to be shaken, which Merek did as the man talked, “Thank you for your understanding, Your Highness. If we weren’t given such sudden orders about keeping people out, I would’ve made a better effort to see who I was attacking. Even with your forgiveness, is there anything we can give you to help you out?”

Merek thought deeply. At this point, the four Guardians had quietly come up behind him, not saying anything, wanting to hear the conversation. Raising his eyebrows, Merek remembered the objective they were going for, “May we be escorted to your… place of living?”

The soldier smiled and turned around, “Of course. Men, some of you go ahead and make sure our pathway is clear. The rest of you, stay behind and help me defend the Prince and Guardians.”

All of the soldiers made some kind of noise in understanding. The next few minutes (or hour) consisted of Merek and the Guardians walking in the middle of the soldiers that stayed behind to defend them. While he wasn’t completely calm, Merek enjoyed the feeling of not being on high alert for a little bit after all of this mess.

One of the soldiers broke the silence momentarily. They sounded kind of young, “Uh, Your Highness? I just wanted to say, um, sorry. I was the one that hit you.”

Merek heard some of the soldiers and half of the group of Guardians quietly gasp. Right, Merek was hit. He was probably bleeding as well. They most likely saw the back of his clothes with blood on them, “Oh… Well, don’t worry about it. That was actually some pretty impressive swordplay. Keep up your training, alright?”

Merek watched the soldier’s eyes get wider and wider. Hopefully, those words made that soldier’s entire life. The soldier rapidly nodded their head in excitement before looking back and getting refocused. Merek let out a small smirk. Ellen would’ve been proud of him for that one.

Devon was the last person to say something. He spoke for all the Guardians at hand, “You should get that checked out when we get to where we’re going.”

Merek shook his head to calm the Guardians’ fear, “Yeah, I will. Don’t worry. We gotta focus on getting there first, though.”

No one spoke after that. Like Merek stated, they all needed to focus on their task, which turned out to be rather boring. After a dozen or so more meters of walking in silence, they all came upon a wall of vines. Some of the soldiers that went ahead were waiting outside for them, and once they saw the wayward group of refugees, they made a doorway in the vines by splitting them open. When Merek and Guardians stepped inside, the Guardians gasped while Merek just widened his eyes. Here it was:

The Grass Kingdom.

Or Homeland.

Fuck. Merek was still bad at this whole sub-royalty thing. He could never remember the names even on _normal_ days.

The first thing to notice were the ‘houses’. They were all trees with sidewalks/walkways leading up to them and leading past them. Also, in each of those trees was a singular weird-shaped ‘sphere’. Windows dotted those ‘spheres’ here and there, and some even had lights on inside. So those had to be where the common Grass people lived. Merek wondered what their kitchens were made of and what was used in them. How often did they fear that their shit would burn down? Most of the houses/trees were small and average, but occasionally they would have two stories/’spheres’ to them, and some even had balconies. But what made Merek eventually gasp along with the rest of the Guardians was the center of the entire area.

It was a huge-ass tree, potentially bigger than all the houses combined. The spheres on it were gigantic with singular windows to match their size, and part of Merek’s inner-child couldn’t wait to see what was inside each and every one of them. Training grounds? Council rooms? Who knows. Then, he remembered what was at stake and calmed down. He can do that when Ellen was with him. One of the more noticeable things about the center tree was the giant platform. You could see people leaping onto it and off of it. So that’s where soldiers were sent from for missions. Neat.

The leader soldier grinned at their reactions. He lived with this environment daily, so it was always fun showing newcomers what it was like, “Well, come along you lot. The Emperor and Empress want to meet you.”

Oh, so that was the most important fact about the tree: it was essentially the castle for the Grass people. One sphere in the tree was the biggest of them all, and it was directly in the center of it. There. That must be where they were going. While the Guardians were practically jumping with joy like toddlers, Merek kept his cool demeanor.

He was the Prince. Even with his life in danger, he should make a good first impression on the other Leaders that his father must work with on a daily basis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please do let me know of any glaring typos that interrupt your reading! criticism is alright as long as you're respectful about it~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	5. Chapter 5

Halfway past the Grass Homeland, Egon felt it.

Down inside there was one of his kid’s signals. It was kind of weak, so he couldn’t tell which one it was, but it was definitely one of _them._ For a second he worried he would need to ignore it, but then he remembered that his kids must have been at the attack when it started. If he goes to whichever one was here, he can get the answers not only a King needs to hear, but ones that a _father_ would also need.

After hovering for a moment, he redirected his flight path down to the ground. The cloak he was wearing was still over his face. He knows being disguised isn’t the safest right now, but until he sees which one of his kids is here, he’s perfectly fine with people assuming he’s a bad guy. Gently landing on the ground and hiding his wings, he started walking towards the feeling.

Yep, one of them was definitely here. The signal was getting stronger and stronger by the minute, and Egon could barely hold back just straight up sprinting in there and finding them immediately. With the attack on his Village, any kind of outsider making their way in will cause alarm bells for the Grass people. That’s good. Egon would hope that’s what his people would do when a crisis arises. 

Speaking of what they would do:

Vines wrapped around his wrists suddenly, pulling him down onto his knees. As he said, this was to be expected, so he didn’t make any effort to fight it. Soon after, three soldiers stepped out from the bushes, one with a bow, one with a sword, and the other with their hands in the air controlling the vines with their powers. Egon kept his face as apathetic as possible. He’s neither angered nor pleased by this situation, and he doesn’t want to give off an impression that will make them think he is either of those.

The one with the sword spoke, “Who are you? What business do you have on this land?”

Egon masked his voice as much as he could, “I escaped the attack. I need refuge.”

The three soldiers looked amongst themselves before the swordsman spoke again, “Take off your cloak, sir.”

Egon shook his head and looked down at the ground, “I’m afraid I cannot do that. I will do anything else to get inside, however.”

The soldiers were more worried now, “If you refuse to show yourself then we will have to treat you as a threat and place you in a holding cell until further notice.”

Egon nodded once, “That’s perfectly fine.”

The soldiers blinked. They clearly thought this would be a worse fight than it was actually going to be. The bow user kept their weapon drawn while the sword user stepped forward. Working with the soldier using his abilities, the vines that were once attached to the ground weren’t anymore. They were used as normal ropes to tie Egon’s hands behind his back. With a small push, Egon started walking with them.

Yes, perfect. That’s absolutely perfect. As long as he gets inside... 

Walking sandwiched between the guards, Egon only prayed.

‘Don’t worry, whoever is here, I’m coming.’

\---

The tree was even more magnificent on the inside.

The only way Merek could describe it was… magical. Really, it was essentially _living_ inside of a giant tree. It looked the part, felt the part, so it was undeniably playing the part too. Merek couldn’t stop the grin on his face even if he wanted to.

“Holy crap, hey! Guys!”

Looking down from the lit-up ceiling, Merek, as well as the Guardians, were shocked when they saw who called out for them. Running up to them was a lanky, brown-haired and teal eyed male. He had some freckles, but you’d need to squint to really see them. His hair was short, barely reaching the top of his ears, but you could definitely see that it was curly as hell. The most important detail about him was his familiar, _regal,_ green robe.

Nikki and Rufus leaped forward at their friend, “Harris!”

Merek watched as the three of them rejoiced in a big hug. Cliff and Devon, while not getting involved that much, stood as close as they could. Geez, Merek knew that the group of them (including Ellen) were very tactile, but even though he believed Ellen’s story about waking up in a cuddle pile with them, it still caught him off guard when he saw it first person.

Harris was the Grass Guardian. Merek always liked how calm he seemed to be whenever he visited. Ellen sent him off to do some recon in the Grass people’s area, considering, again, he was the _Grass_ Guardian. That’s right, Ellen wanted each Guardian to swiftly become buddy-buddy with the type they were given. When the Guardians had free time, Ellen sent them off to do just that. They would essentially be to the people of that typing what Ellen was to, well, _everyone._

Back at the group hug, Harris broke out of it to look at Merek, “Hey, just so you all know, the reason I came out to meet you was that, well, I’m not the only one who wants to do that.” The other four Guardians, along with Merek, looked around at each other with confused looks before Harris explained, “The Emporer and Empress heard what happened. They’d like to talk to you all if that’s okay.”

The Guardians gasped with excitement. Merek’s eyes widened a little bit before going back to their normal shape, “Well then… I guess we have no choice. Lead the way, Harris.”

The introduction was very cliche. Merek and the Guardians all bowed in their presence, to which they responded that they don’t need any formality. A man behind the rulers stood silently, watching the newcomers closely. He must be their personal guard. The Emperor addressed Merek specifically after a little bit, “We will do anything we can. We have soldiers at the ready, and our supplies are limitless. There are also spare rooms for all of you to go and rest in.”

Merek nodded once and only once, “Thank you, Sandor. We will certainly need all the help we can get.”

Being given the impression that it was okay to leave, the six of them turned around and started walking. Right in front of the exit door, the Empress spoke one last time, “I’ve heard many great things about you, Your Highness. I’m glad someone like you has chosen us to help in your time of need.”

Swallowing the emotions pooling in his throat, Merek turned his head slightly to look at her out of the corner of his eye, “Thank you, Gwenyth. I’m glad I’ve impressed you.”

He certainly hasn’t given that impression to himself. He’s given the exact opposite, honestly. He ran away from his people like a coward, left his sister to die, and has no idea where his father is! He’s shaping up to be one shitty ruler, let alone a potential king. Walking with the Guardians, they all eventually made it to a hallway with a bunch of vacant rooms like the Emperor and Empress directed them to.

Everybody waved goodbye and split off to their respective resting places. Before getting inside of his, Cliff looked at Merek one last time, “Don’t forget to bandage and clean that.”

Merek could only nod. Then, he was finally alone. Once he got inside his room, he found the medical supplies and cleaned up. He hissed when the alcohol hit his back and squirmed until the pain faded. Carefully wrapping bandages around himself, Merek looked in a mirror once he was done.

He kind of looked terrible. He looks like he needs to sleep for a thousand years, and bruises dotted certain parts of his chest. Shaking off his anxiety, Merek went and grabbed a new shirt. Now that he had time alone, he could think of what to do. Putting the shirt back on, his plan was swiftly squashed.

His door was knocked on. Looking around, Merek realized that the person was waiting for permission, “Uh, come in?”

A message girl opened his door and let a little outside light in, “If it’s alright, Your Highness, you’ve been requested to come with me.”

Merek raised an eyebrow, “Why?”

The girl cleared her throat, “An intruder has been reprimanded. They would like your opinion about what to do with them.”

Merek sighed. So much for having downtime. Wiping off the front of his new shirt, he walked to his door, “Alright, lead the way, I guess.”

Following behind the girl, Merek’s thoughts stayed on what he originally wanted to think about.

‘Ellen, Father, just… please stay safe until I figure this out.’

\---

Two soldiers wearing typical Grass Soldier regalia were waiting outside the holding room for Merek.

The message girl had to leave once Merek knew where he was going, so he was currently alone. The first soldier spotted him approaching, “Your Highness! I’m glad you could join us.”

Merek rubbed the back of his neck, “Let’s just get this over with quickly.”

The soldier nodded his head and opened the door, and Merek quickly didn’t care about his problems as much anymore.

He walked into the room and was filled with… something. It mainly felt warm, like being wrapped in a blanket. Staring at the intruder just seemed to make it a little bit stronger. Speaking of the intruder, he seemed to be mindlessly staring at the ground, waiting for something. He had very broad shoulders and seemed to be very tall. A cloak covered his entire face and head. Behind the intruder were two more guards up against the wall wearing the same armor as the two outside. The soldier who opened the door was standing in it, while the other one on the outside just stayed there to watch the hallway.

The solider in the door spoke, “He came with us willingly, so we highly doubt there’s any kind of threat here, but-”

Right as Merek took about two more steps into the room, the intruder snapped his head and looked at Merek. The intruder also stood up very rapidly and stared directly at him. All four guards hyperfocused on the intruder, hands up and ready to restrain him if he tried anything. Merek was subconsciously ready to throw down as well if it turned chaotic.

However, what happened next gave Merek something he needed a boost of: _hope._

The intruder took off the cloak from his head and let it rest on his shoulders. This let the ridiculously long hair that was half-heartedly bunched up in the cloak fall down all the way to the man’s knees. Merek’s eyes widened in pure shock way before the ‘intruder’ had time to whisper out a simple: 

“Merek?”

Merek lost his breath as he stared into the eyes of his _not dead or hurt_ father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please do let me know of any glaring typos that interrupt your reading! criticism is alright as long as you're respectful about it~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	6. Chapter 6

Merek vaguely registered that the guards backed off and were mostly apologetic. First, they attack the Prince on accident, then they detain the literal King. This is turning out to not be their best week. One of the guards behind them stuttered, “Y-Your Majesty! My- we’re terribly sorry for this inconvenience. Please, forgive us,” the guard along with the other three bowed in apology.

Egon just raised an eyebrow before gently smiling, “It’s all right. If it’s any consolation, I’m rather glad my disguise was able to fool you all. It wouldn’t have been a good one if any of my subjects could detect that it was me behind it.” The guards sighed in relief. Their King was one of the greatest.

Meanwhile, Merek was slowly but surely entering a state of shock. He was insanely happy his father was okay, but his body wasn’t picking up on that fact and Merek wasn’t sure how obvious his labored breathing was to anyone but him, but he didn’t care. He tried calming down, but every time he tried to breathe he seemed to choke on air.

Egon picked up on this, “Gentlemen, can we be given a few moments?”

The guard at the door spoke while the other three left immediately, “Of course, Your Majesty. Please, let us know if you need anything.” The door shut behind them, leaving the father and son to reminisce.

Now that their subjects were out of the room, Merek could let go. Their number one rule was to stay cool and collected in front of anyone that wasn’t their family. If they panicked and had no idea what to do, then the normal everyday people were also going to panic. If the heroes couldn’t handle it, how could they?

But there weren’t any commoners anymore. No families with crying children, no lovers having to say goodbye due to fear of death, it was just Merek and his father. These were the only times they could let their true emotions show, and Merek was going to abuse that fact as much as possible right now. _Especially_ right now.

Leaping forward, Merek wrapped his arms around his father’s shoulders while his father wrapped his arms around Merek’s waist. Merek was very careful with his affections. Not very used to giving anything more than a hand on a shoulder. He was way better about it nowadays, but even though Egon was their father, they did only find out the man _wasn’t_ dead two years ago.

Merek didn’t really care about that right now, though.

Merek took some deep breaths. They were shaky, but he was feeling much better. Some tears may or may not have leaked out of his eyes as well, “Thank God…”

Egon didn’t need to say anything to that. Merek didn’t need any rocking or shushing or any words at all. At least, none right now. He just needed Egon’s presence, and the wayward father was happy to oblige. Placing a large hand on the back of his son’s head, he easily hid the rage building in his body thanks to the one in his arms.

He shouldn’t have left. Granted, with how exhausted he was, he might have been more of a hindrance when those people attacked, but at least he would’ve _been_ there for his kids and people. It’s not that his kids were weak or anything like that. He _knows_ that the kids can handle themselves and whatever the new weekly villain will throw at them. He would be an awful person if he didn’t trust his kids at this point, especially after learning what they’ve been through.

What he didn’t trust were the potential heathens waiting to strike his family whenever they could. Being Royalty is a magical experience just as much as it is a burden. There were those who would obviously disagree, but the majority of them would just bring up their disagreements with their respective councils, and thus it would shuffle into Egon’s lap to be examined. But there were the ones who didn’t want to wait; who wanted change immediately. Those with such views would do anything to get that change. Even resorting to treason.

He was just hoping he would be there to protect his children for when it happened for the first time. Some father he was turning out to be...

Now he needs to figure out if the group that attacked the Village was just waiting and chose that day out of pure coincidence, or if they somehow figured out that the Royal Family was weakened and split, thus attacking immediately the second they knew. However, he didn’t need to focus on that. He needed to focus on the now. The now involved his, albeit adult-aged, children in trouble. They were good at what they did, but even they could get overtaken by a surprising force every once in a while.

Egon spoke over his son’s shoulder, “I hate to take this moment and potentially ruin it, but is your sister here as well?”

Merek tensed up, essentially giving Egon’s doubts to transform into fear and panic. Leaning out of their embrace, Merek felt his father’s hands stay on his shoulders, “They weren’t going to let us get away. Ellen basically turned herself in so I could run. I have no idea what they could do to her, or if they’ve already done that stuff, or maybe even if she were-”

“Okay, alright,” Egon brought Merek close to him again. He doesn’t want Merek freaking out like before, “You would know if she weren’t alive anymore. You would feel it,” a nod against his shoulder let him know he was doing alright, “but if there’s any worry I would follow of yours, it would be how they’re treating her. Do you have _any_ inkling about what they could do?”

Egon felt Merek shake his head, “No. One of the leaders, a woman, was Steel, and some of her lackeys were Ground and Psychic, but I was given no indication of how they treat their prisoners. Some of the Village members fought them off and gave us a chance to get away and get back-up, which, I’m slowly doing… hopefully.”

Egon just nodded his head throughout the entire explanation. When Merek was done, he gently pushed Merek away to be at arm's length again, “Which you’re doing an amazing job of. I heard people talk as I was escorted in. They’re preparing to do whatever they can to help. As soon as I can as well, I’m going to contact Jewel and Ravid over at the Ground Compound, who will send over their own soldiers.”

It was Merek’s turn to nod during the explanation, “Great, awesome. We need all the help we can get…” 

Egon tilted his head in confusion, “There’s… something else that’s bothering you, isn’t there?”

Merek sighed like Egon was an idiot for not getting it, “People expect me to be this amazing ruler in the future, yet all I’ve done is abandon people and have everyone else do the work! The Empress even said she was _impressed!_ Why? I’m an awful ruler…”

Egon stared at his son before sadly smiling, “Okay, first of all, you probably just have things to learn. So did I, son. Second of all,” with his hands on his son’s shoulders, he made Merek look him in the eye, “Just because you needed to run and get help doesn’t mean you’re a terrible ruler. The fact that you’re trying to _find_ help is what makes you a good one. I’ve heard so many horror stories of kings and queens and generals abandoning their people in crises. You’re the farthest thing possible from them, alright?”

Merek was slowly registering his father’s words as he turned his head away to hide his building emotions.

Egon just kept pridefully staring at his son’s face, “Don’t sell yourself short. You’ve made it far in life being a good leader. Being a ruler isn’t much different. And, if you want my honest opinion, you’re doing a better job then I would have at your stage in the learning process.”

Soaking in the praise like a dry sponge with water, Merek looked back at his father’s face with wide eyes. Egon couldn’t believe it sometimes; his children were acclaimed saviors of many things, they didn’t need things like parental approval. Hell, Ellen was a parent herself at this point!

Yet, they did, and the last thing Egon wanted to do was prevent them from getting what they should have gotten a majority of their life. Patting his son on the back, he was caught off guard when he hissed in pain, “Merek?! What happened? Are you okay?”

Merek just smiled through the momentary pain and shook his head, “Father, calm down. I’m fine. I have this rather large scratch on my back, nothing more. It doesn’t even need stitches.”

Looking at his son in the eyes, Egon sighed but also smiled. They even started to laugh a little at what just went down. They were figuring out some semblance of ‘normal’ right now, and that’s all they needed. Instead of patting him on the back this time, he draped an arm around his shoulder. While they weren’t 100% about it, the hope they gained from that small moment was good enough.

After walking for a minute, Egon eventually took his arm off. They stayed side by side, but Egon’s arm was getting tired, he needed a break whether he wanted to take one or not. Halfway back to Merek’s room, they heard quiet chatter. Looking for the source, Merek’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance at what he saw. The five Guardians were all out of their rooms, wearing pajamas and sitting on the floor in front of their doors. They really could be children sometimes.

Getting up behind Nikki, Merek used his most ‘parent’ voice possible, “Guys… what are you doing?”

They all snapped their heads toward Merek and gasped at what they saw behind him. They quickly stood and bowed, Harris speaking for them, “Your Majesty! We’re so happy to see you okay!”

Egon, with an eyebrow raised, looked at Merek before looking at part of his daughter’s team, “It’s alright, you guys. I’m glad to see you’re all okay too.”

The Guardians sighed in relief, sagging their shoulders. After a little bit of talking and explaining to them what the plan was, they eventually went back to their rooms to go to sleep. Merek just sighed while Egon smiled at his son’s misfortune. He liked his daughter’s team too, but he also understood the exhaustion they could sometimes bring with them.

Right before the father and son could get into their room, that same message girl from earlier came up to them, “Your Majesty and Highness, the Emperor and Empress request your presence at this council meeting,”

Egon looked at Merek, who was looking at him, before looking back at the girl, “I’d understand why I should come, but why my son? What’s happening at this meeting?”

The girl pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, “Half of the council want to send out spies to see what’s happening, the other half thinks it’s unneeded as of this moment. The Emperor and Empress want you two there to give your opinion on the matter.”

Before Egon could say anything else, Merek adjusted his clothes, “Sounds good to me. Lead the way once again.”

The girl nodded and turned around. As they followed her, Egon talked to his son quietly, “If you want to sit out, I will make an excuse for you. You do look awfully tired.”

Merek registered his father’s offer before smiling calmly, “It’s okay. I was there when they attacked, so, hopefully, my opinion will hold more weight.”

Egon stared at his son, not entirely sure this was a good idea. He relented in the end, “Whatever you say, son. If you need to leave at any time, though, just let me know.”

Merek nodded, “I will, Father.”

No matter how tired he got, he was going to stay in this meeting until those spies were sent out. _Somebody_ needed to go and see the state of the Village goddammit. But there was a deeper, more psychological reason that he wants to be there: validation. If the literal Emperor and Empress want him at a meeting with his _father,_ then he couldn’t have been _that_ bad of a ruler.

\---

The fist slamming the table caught everyone off guard.

“Our people could very well be _dead_ now, and yet you’re standing here worrying about the ‘outside factors’?!”

Merek’s outburst took even Egon back. The personal guard of the Emperor and Empress, Marten as he’s named, was vehement about being more cautious. He didn’t want to leap into any unnecessary traps, but Merek wasn’t having any of it. He was standing up straight, leaning over the table in the direction of where Marten was sitting. They’ve waited too long already, they _have_ to go get _some_ kind of information.

Marten sighed and stood up, “Very well, I see your point. With permission, I will take my best soldiers out tonight. We will scout out the Village and bring back any info we can.”

Any argument Merek had left his body like he was punched in the gut. Huh, he was not expecting this man to back down that easily. Merek turned his head and looked at the Emperor, waiting for his response.

Sandor nodded, “Very well, then. This meeting is adjourned.”

The Royal Flower closed, signifying that it was finally over, and with it, Merek let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. While his father stayed back to talk to Sandor and Gwenyth about other important matters, Merek went and found Marten. He was talking with some message people, probably getting them to go fetch his soldiers.

Merek approached him slowly as to not startle him, “Hey, uh, Marten? I just wanted to say sorry for getting heated back there. That was unnecessary.”

The man in question turned around with an eyebrow raised before smiling, “It’s alright, Your Highness. If it’s any consolation, you are correct. We do need to head out as soon as possible. I’m sorry for not seeing it sooner.”

Merek let out another breath he didn’t know he was holding, “It’s alright. It’s just, um…” Marten kept looking at him, waiting for him to continue, “You can’t get in from the outside. The illusion wall was turned into an actual wall, and only Psychic people can turn it on or off. I forgot to mention it at the meeting. Will that block your advancement in any way?”

Marten nodded his head in understanding, “I see. Don’t worry, one of the soldiers I’m bringing along is part Psychic. We’ll be able to get around it. Wish us luck.”

Before Merek could say anything else, Marten turned around and walked away. Merek felt both comforted and uncertain about what was to come. The man was definitely talented, but… would it be enough? Be enough for Ellen?

When Egon came back and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Merek could only shake his head, “I don’t really know.”

\---

“Merek, go to sleep.”

Blinking out of his thought train, Merek turned away from the window. Outside, he was watching the five soldiers that included Marten leap off of the takeoff platform. What made him look away was the figure in his room. It was his father, sporting some nice Grass nightclothes. The look on his face didn’t describe disappointment, but it also wasn’t joyful happiness either. Merek swallowed, “Uh, yeah. I was just about to do that. Don’t worry, Father.”

Egon sighed. He knew Merek was absolutely exhausted, but with the idea of a convoy finally being sent out to the Village, and all the emotions from recent decisions, no wonder the kid couldn’t fall asleep. Standing up, he walked over to Merek, “I’m not sleeping until you do. Come on, let’s share a bed tonight.”

Blinking in shock again, Merek stared at his father in disbelief, “What? Father, I appreciate the offer, but-”

Egon’s hands were back on Merek’s shoulders, “It’s embarrassing? Not needed? Well, not to be a ‘Captain Obvious’, but I’m pretty sure those are both a huge lie. Tell me, is it embarrassing for Ellen when she does it with you after a nightmare?”

Merek avoided his eyes but gripped one of the hands on his shoulders, “No, b-”

Egon started up again immediately, stopping Merek’s speech from continuing longer than needed, “Okay, another question: was it embarrassing for me when the two of you hunkered down in my room to comfort me under similar circumstances?”

Merek was slightly miffed, “No! It’s just-”

Egon shhed him, “Then that’s all there is to it. I know you kids have a hard time thinking you deserve anything nice, but trust me, _it’s okay._ Let’s go to bed, alright?”

Merek felt water fill his eyes as he looked at his father’s face. He’s not totally convinced, and he will definitely need to hear that conversation until the end of time, but he supposes that he _is_ really tired, “Okay…”

Leading his son by keeping a hand on his back, Egon walked over to the larger bed in the room. With a little workaround, they eventually got under the covers. They weren’t as close as humanly possible, but Merek was close enough so Egon could gently drape an arm over him. Merek faced Egon while Egon faced Merek. It was an uncomfortable comfortable silence that surrounded them.

After a few minutes, Merek finally went under. Satisfied, Egon closed his eyes as well and started falling asleep too. It’s only been a couple of days, yet he feels it’s only going to get longer and longer. Right before he went under like his son, his last thought was about the missing body that should be in the bed with them.

‘If they’ve done anything to you, Ellen, they better hope they can handle it too…’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please do let me know of any glaring typos that interrupt your reading! criticism is alright as long as you're respectful about it~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **just as a warning:** this chapter Ellen gets beat up a little bit more violently than other chaps. its all physical stuff, but if a younger woman being beat up (esp by an older man) is a squick for you, then you can feel free to skip this chapter. its mainly an interlude that i put in for shits and giggles (and to fill my whump quota). ill put anything important from this chapter in the bottom notes if youre interested

A loud clang on the bars of her cage woke her up.

Sitting up, Ellen tried stretching her arms over her head to get all the kinks in her back out (somewhat failing in the process). She doesn’t remember if she actually fell asleep on the cold hard floor or if she just ended up passing out in the end. Considering the various places she’s been able to fall asleep, either option was possible. She has no idea how long she’s been asleep, but it must have been kind of long. Her arms were still covered in red, blotchy lines, but instead of searing pain, she was just sore.

Incredibly… sore.

Another loud clang against her bars made her drop her arms and turn around. A generic guard was outside, glaring at her and holding a staff against the cage. Ah, so that was making the noise. Lovely. Ellen could glare at the man too. She noticed a chain bundled up on the left side of his waist, “If I promise good behavior can I get out of being tied up?”

The answer was a very rough no. For a split second, Ellen tried fighting it, but the foot that went into her back and shoved her chest down onto the ground made her realize that she wasn’t strong enough for it. One second later, her arms were burning again, and she was being forced down the hallway to… somewhere. Honestly, how did they manage to turn the Village into _this_ in such a short time?

Where she was being led was the same for the most part, but right before she got back out to where that fake throne was, she was pushed hard to the left. Ooh, a new area to explore. That gives her more room to find ways to escape. Perfect. Eventually, she made it into this area with a bunch of other people. The chains were taken off her arms, and a hand on her shoulder pushed her to kneel next to someone. 

Ellen hoped that in the midst of her subjects’ panic they wouldn’t notice she was captured, but there was one person who saw who she was right away, “Ellen?!”

Blinking in shock and fear, she looked to her right to see Tyrone. He had a bruise on his right jawbone, and red, blotchy rashes were also on his arms, but he seemed to be fine. All Ellen needs to do is wipe that fear off his face, “Tyrone? They got you too?”

The man was still blinking at the prospect of his friend being here. Ellen was a lot older than she appeared to be, but that still didn’t change the fact that she was younger than needed, and that thought hurt, “Shit I was hoping you’d get away. Dammit!” His fists subconsciously clenched at his sides.

A guard stepped closer to them due to Tyrone being so loud, making Ellen shh Tyrone in response. Both watched as the guard raised an eyebrow, followed by just ignoring them. This wasn’t worth making a scene over. After the guard went away, Ellen turned her head back to look at Tyrone, “Hey, I’m okay. Don’t worry about me. Where’s Quinn, though? Is she here as well?”

Ellen could still see the concern on Tyrone’s face directed at her, but he didn’t push it any further, “I’m pretty sure she got out of the village, but other than that…”

His voice and eyes drifted away, and Ellen knew not to ask about that anymore. 

A random dude got in front of them all, catching their attention “Lady has said you will all be on physical labor due to your needless disrespect,” so these people have tried breaking out. Makes sense why Tyrone was here now, “As long as you respect your new Rulers’ authorities, they might let you go back to your quarters to rest momentarily.”

Looking around after that unnecessary speech, Ellen saw that there were a dozen or so other people here along with herself and Tyrone. Nothing like good ol’ slave labor to get this party started. She was proud of her subjects’ determination at least. Turning her head just a little bit more, she finally noticed something that pertained to her situation.

A few feet away was that evil lady Ellen remembered all too well. Talking to her in a quiet, panicked voice was that Ground kid from earlier. Ellen felt fear fill her body for a moment. Why was he back so soon? What happened to Merek? This means that her brother was either totally fine or potentially _dead._ There was a wide margin of possibilities in between those two, but Ellen was panicking a little too much to fucking care.

Ellen needed answers, so she heightened her hearing and listened to the conversation they were having. The boy was speaking currently, “I’m deeply sorry, Alanna, but the Prince was able to get away. Some of the Princess’ dogs managed to stop me before I could finish him off.”

So that was her name. ‘Alanna’ pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, “This is troubling. While I’m not too happy with this development, I’m not going to punish you. You weren’t prepared for a caliber of that attack. Head to Demetrius for some extra training.”

The kid bowed, “Thank you, Your Lady.” The kid walked away and out of sight from them.

Ellen sighed in relief. Some of her team must have heard what happened and rushed over. Good. She knew giving herself up was worth it in the end.

“Hey! You!”

Before Ellen (or Tyrone for that matter) could do anything else outside of blink, she felt a knee get jammed into her back. With a gasp, she was shoved face first down into the ground in front of her. She tasted dirt along with the blood filling her mouth. Great, like she needed something else to make her day worse. 

She vaguely heard Tyrone protesting what was happening, but the sound of footsteps walking towards her shut him up. With the knee still on her back, a hand roughly grabbed the hair at the top of her head and lifted her up to look at them. It was ‘Alanna’, smiling in that way that barely hid restrained fury. She spoke so Ellen was the only one who could hear her, “Didn’t your father teach you manners? It’s rude to listen in on private conversations. Behave yourself, or the rest of these people can see what kind of state their lovely hero is in.”

Alanna let go of Ellen’s hair right as the knee got off of the girl’s back. Ellen’s face fell back into the ground momentarily before she got back up on her knees. She made an effort to not look up into Alanna’s eyes, keeping her vision on the ground where her face just was. The evil lady just kept smirking. This brat will learn her place eventually. Swiftly turning around, she walked away from the group of prisoners. They had a job to do; it would be best if she didn’t interrupt them anymore.

Wiping off her face, the next thing Ellen knew what that they were standing and being led over to their first draining task. After a few minutes of mindlessly carrying rocks and stones, Tyrone finally found his way over to Ellen. She could handle herself in this situation, he knows she can- hell, she was doing better than him, honestly- but he also knows it’ll help each other in the long run to be next to a familiar face.

Walking side by side, Tyrone tried to mask his uncertainty, “Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out.”

Ellen didn’t doubt that. She did doubt whether or not they’d have enough _time_ for it though.

\---

It happened out of the blue.

A day went by with minor scuffles. Ellen would say something stupid or snarky, get smacked upside the head, and Tyrone would yell at them for it, sometimes getting his own smack. Other than that, the labor wasn’t too awful. Ellen could live with this. They were just building some walls for whatever reason. It wasn’t hard at all.

Sure, it was tiring, and Ellen worried that some of the people would collapse with such lack of rest, but they were doing fine for right now. She did make sure to keep an eye on them for whenever it happened, though. Today, they were on higher alert than before. The main leader in that weird, somewhat broken armor was watching them today for some reason, so they made sure to be on their best behavior (mostly). 

Ellen was quietly talking to Tyrone when her worst fears happened.

An older man collapsed, letting the brick in his arms drop down to the ground. Everyone, including the leader, watched him move aimlessly on the floor with all fours. The ‘fake King’ (copyright Ellen) noticed too and strutted his way over to the helpless male. Standing over him, the ruler spoke calmly, “Do you care to explain yourself?”

The man was panting, and even though he wasn’t grinning, Ellen felt that same demeanor radiate off of him, “No, I don’t, you hack-fraud. You’re lucky I’m older than I used to be…”

Ellen felt the anger spike in the leader, and before she knew it, she was moving. Dropping the materials she was holding, she totally ignored Tyrone’s protest and ran at the two men going at it. The fake King raised his arm up, and everyone gasped in fear. Some even looked away. Ellen ran faster. There was no way that man was going to survive what was going to happen to him.

Right before the old man could be struck down, Ellen leaped and landed on her knees, shooting her arm forward and grabbing the wrist of the leader. At first, she was shocked that she still had it in her state to stop such a powerful attack. Then, following a few moments of tense silence, everybody realized what just happened. Oh no… Oh _no._ Ellen registered her eyes widening in fear while the fake King slowly got angrier and angrier. Ellen took this time to look at the older man, “Run, idiot.” 

He didn’t have to listen twice.

Before any of them could blink or Ellen could release the wrist or even say _something,_ she felt a metal foot get rammed into her abdomen. The breath in her body completely left in a pain-filled gasp. The pain caused her to release his wrist and fall over. Ellen had no time to think before another kick hit the exact same place. This time, she spit out some blood and curled protectively around her stomach. She vaguely felt herself shaking due to the pain (and fear).

Out at the sidelines was Tyrone, who was trying his hardest to break out of some other prisoners’ grasps. Dammit, let him go! He’s not going to stand by and let this happen! Let them beat him up instead! They knew who she was, but other than Tyrone himself, nobody else did, and that just about made this worse!

Back at Ellen and the leader, he started speaking, “I thought you all learned your lesson with the cursed chains. Seeing as you haven’t, I guess I might as well give you all a reminder.”

Ellen only registered something else was happening when the man grabbed her by the throat and picked her up from her fetal position. Her toes barely touched the ground, and she had a perfect view of the fake’s scarred helmet while scratching at his arm. Pulling his arm back (and her) just a little bit, he used the momentum to toss her across the field. She rolled and bounced on and skidded for longer than any of them liked. Her face sometimes even smacked the ground as well. She only stopped when she slammed into one of the almost-complete walls. It was halfway between being dry and still drying, so when her back hit it, it slightly indented from the force.

Everybody was just staring at the trembling girl this man just mindlessly beat up. Some had their mouths open, others had wide eyes in disbelief. Tyrone was breathing heavily, but the shock of the situation stopped his attempts at breaking out of the strangers’ grasp. Like a cartoon, every prisoner slowly turned their heads to look at this new ‘King’.

You still couldn’t see his face, but you could definitely feel the rage rolling off of him, “Enough work for today. All of you will be led back to your cells. If any of you try to leave them without orders to do so before tomorrow morning, well… you’ve seen what’ll happen.” Then, he twisted around and started marching away, fists clenched at his side.

Sitting up with blood dripping down her chin, face, and nose, Ellen just glared at his back. She felt Tyrone come up next to her, but she didn’t care about that. Even with the pain, all she could think about was that man with anger. It wasn’t even the fact that it was her that was beaten up either. It was the fact that this man no doubtedly did this to other people who _couldn’t_ take such a beating like that.

Even though it hurt like hell; even though Tyrone had to keep an arm around her shoulders as they went to their cages, she could only feel three things: pain, anger, but also, and let no one else know about this one, _fear._ Merek needed to hurry up. Not for her, but for the rest of their subjects.

The idea that they could leave their people in the clutches of this anarchist group any longer tasted worse than the blood filling her mouth.

\---

“Jesus, kid, just what did he do to you?”

Ellen let Tyrone gently grab her chin and examine her face. She looks awful. There was a cut on her forehead that was still bleeding (at least her nose stopped), not to mention the various bruises on her face, all of them taking different shapes and sizes. There’s probably a shit ton more in non-visible places as well. Scratch that: definitely. Her abdomen hurts way more than she thought. “At least none of the bruises reach my eyes. I’ve been told my eyes are my best feature,” Ellen tried to joke.

The look Tyrone gave her made her shut up. So he doesn’t like joking right now. That’s cool. She can respect that. However, she has a feeling that Tyrone is miffed for more reason than one. Ellen completely understood. She too was bothered by not knowing how her family was doing.

Once Tyrone let her chin go, Ellen tried to comfort him, “Quinn’s strong, you know? I don’t think something as stupid as this would take her down.”

Tyrone flinched for a moment before he realized what she was saying. His shoulders sagged, “Yeah, she’s one of the most amazing people I know. Still… I just wish I could’ve seen her one last time before being split. At least I could know some information on how she might be faring…”

Well, Ellen couldn’t really argue that. Leaning her head against the cold wall behind her, Ellen relished at the moment of being with a friend. She did that because of one reason: this wasn’t her cage, and she knew they would come and take her to hers in a few moments. A few minutes later, just like she thought, a guard came in with that familiar chain, and Ellen was too tired and in pain to care at this point. She did have to glare at Tyrone before the idiot got himself more hurt trying to stop them from taking her away.

Next thing Ellen knew was that she was back in her singular cage in the center of… whatever they built here. Seriously, credit where credit is due: these guys were _stellar_ architects. Being able to build such a functional prison in such a short time was incredible. Oh wait, she was currently being held captive in that prison, nevermind. Getting tossed back into her cold and lonely cell, the only thing she could muster was crawling over to her sleep corner and curling in on herself while trembling ~~harder~~ again. At least she had a wall she could face this time.

… She was strong. She could handle this. She was the Princess. She was the Destined Hero; she won’t allow these lowlifes to break her.

She just _can’t._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the main things from this chap that you should know about is that:
> 
> A) Ellen finds Tyrone in captivity with her  
> B) She learns the main woman's name (the one with the chains) is 'Alanna'  
> C) Ellen saves an older man and takes the beating for him from that main leader guy (who was sitting in that throne in chap 2) 
> 
> please do let me know of any glaring typos that interrupt your reading! criticism is alright as long as you're respectful about it~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	8. Chapter 8

Contrary to popular belief, Ellen was actually doing okay.

Seriously.

She wasn’t doing great, she won’t deny that, but she’s been in lower-risk scenarios and has gotten beaten up _worse_ in those than here. Her arms hurt like they’ve been dipped in acid for one week straight, and her bruises and scratches will be sore for a while, but outside of those? If more of her hostage situations can go like this, she’d probably end up in hospital way less then she usually does.

It was a day after that infamous scene. Instead of being lead to the physical labor area like before (she saw Tyrone being led there, so at least he’s not in _too_ much danger), she was led to a hidden room. Once she was inside, the chains around her arms were finally taken off. She felt a hand on her back shove her forward, but she shot her arms out in front of her to catch herself. She gasped when they landed, but hey, she hasn’t face-planted (yet). She registered a dark-skinned Water lady to her left and an Asian Rock man to her right, but she was more focused on what was in front of her.

And the fact that she couldn’t believe it. 

On a pedestal in front of Alanna was a light-blue orb. Only a select few people in this room probably knew what it actually was, and Ellen, unfortunately, was one of them. A few weeks ago she read about this. _The Didiza._ The book described what it could do and the description was not… pretty, to say the least. 

Alanna read the confusion (and fear) in the room and explained, “Many of you do not know what this is, and that’s okay. You’ll know soon enough. However, if you feel that you’re less curious than the other prisoners, you have the option to fight your way out of this room if you think you can make it. If you don’t feel up to the challenge, then you must stare at the orb or face the consequences. With that out of the way... Demetrius?”

The Psychic user stepped out of the shadows (where the fuck did he come from?) and waved his arms around. Soon after, the Didiza started glowing violently. The room was too scared to try any kind of fighting, so they all stared at it without complaint… all except for one.

Ellen was still in shock. After staring off into space for a minute, she took a deep breath and looked around the room. She quickly understood why there was even a second ‘option’ in the first place.

Guards lined up just about everywhere, ready to take these people on if they really did take up Alanna’s ‘offer’. Ellen swallowed her spit heavily before shoving her line of sight to the floor in front of her. One of the guards gave Ellen that familiar gut feeling when she saw him, but she didn’t have time to worry about that (even though she knows she should). She first has to figure out every possible outcome in this situation. All in all, there was no way everybody could escape, even with her there. She could try, and there’s a slight chance she could make it out, but on top of her current injuries, whatever they give her in her attempt at freedom will probably kill her eventually.

But the other option was to sit here and take… that. 

Ellen has cheated death before, and she will continue to do so (she’s one of the few people that can say ‘dying was worse than this’ as a joke). Considering there’s no cure that’s been found for the Didiza, there’s no probability that if she gets put under she can come out of it. However, just because she’s been able to come back from _one_ death doesn’t mean she can again. Her family would be devasted in more ways than one if she _died_ because of this mess (hell, they don’t even know about her come-back-to-life situation yet). Then again, if she came back to her family under the influence of the Didiza, that might just be worse than death itself. Alive but not at the same time; God, what would her family do if she was like that...

Wait, that’s right. What’s her family famous for? _Doing the impossible._ Hell, Merek’s found solutions to things that were thought to be unsolvable for years! Will it hurt them seeing her like that? Yeah, and Ellen already hates herself for putting them in that position, but part of her also knows that it’ll just be more motivation for them to figure it out. Besides, once they figure out how to save her, they can use it to save these other people who are going to end up the same way.

Taking a deep breath, she made her decision.

Ellen looked up and stared at the orb like the strangers around her.

Her vision got blurrier and blurrier, her head was getting murkier with the apparent need to _sleep,_ and even when she went cold, all she could think was, ‘Sorry.’

Sorry to her people; sorry to Tyrone, but most importantly; sorry to her _family._ She might have not had a choice, but that won’t make any of them feel any less guilty in the long run.

\---

“Alright, newbies. Go take a break.”

A chorus of sighs in relief was heard. Everyone subsequently set down their staffs and started talking to one another as they walked out of the room. Merek just calmly grabbed a towel and wiped the back of his neck with it. It was two days later. Merek and Harris were asked to help out with some of the training of new recruits. Merek was put in charge of basic hand-to-hand combat and was also told not to go easy and teach them everything. If he conveniently used this time to get some of his frustrations out, then no one would know.

Don’t worry, he didn’t literally beat them the fuck up, but if someone “accidentally” kept making the same dumb mistake on purpose just to be a little twit, then Merek maybe “accidentally” sweep kicked them harder than what was required. That’s what he’s been doing for the past couple hours. Merek hasn’t seen Harris yet, but from what he’s heard from the people walking outside his training room, he’s doing just fine teaching them about their powers.

After all of the trainees left the room, a familiar female Guardian stepped into the room to survey the area. Merek wasn’t facing the doorway, and the towel he was using was now over his eyes, drying his face. He was completely unaware that a newcomer was there.

Nikki spoke with an undertone of mischievous joy at the scene, “Having fun letting out some steam on the trainees? I see where Ellen gets her training tricks from now.”

Merek sighed again, but this time at the voice in the doorway. He pulled the towel away from his face and looked in the direction of the door, “Yes, Nikki? Do you need help or are you here to specifically antagonize me?”

She rolled her eyes, “Yes. Anyway, I’ve been meaning to ask you; where could we set up some kind of race track to train our speed? Ellen’s mentioned it a few times, but she’s just not sure. So, I’d figured I could get your input now.”

Merek looked around the room with just his eyes as he processed what Nikki was asking, “Well, there’s that field you guys go goof around in. It connects to the forest, so the trees would be a nice obstacle. I don’t know why you just haven’t made it a track already, you guys already race each other so much in it.”

Nikki beamed, “Yeah, that’s fair, but we were hoping to make something everyone could use! Ellen says we’re all a little too ‘hardcore’ or whatever that means.”

Merek thinned his lips in that motion that spoke ‘really?’ He would remember that sometimes Ellen would come back from their ‘races’ that, while she thoroughly enjoyed, she still ended up lying face down on the couch for a long ass time, “Gee, I wonder why?”

Nikki puffed up her cheeks in an attempt to pout, but it quickly went away due to her need to giggle. Merek couldn’t help the grin that formed on his face either. With all of the chaos, moments like these were far few in between. It was ended when both of them let out small sighs and looked forlornly at each other. Nikki rubbed her upper arm due to the silence, “I’m glad I got to meet Ellen. She’s made my life so much better…”

Merek pushed his lips together to prevent too many emotions from spilling out. He felt the exact same way, “Yeah, she’s pretty amazing…”

After a brief moment of silence, footsteps pounded outside the training room. People were running down the hallway, which set off warning bells in Merek and Nikki’s heads. Before either of them could panic too much, voices shouted things neither of them expected.

“The spies! They’ve returned!”

“They have rescuees! C’ mon!”

Both Nikki and Merek only looked at each other once in shock before rushing out of the room. Nikki was down two hallways by the time Merek could be halfway down the first one. He always forgot how fast she could really be sometimes. He wasn’t sure where his father was, but he also figured that their paths would cross eventually. Those two people aren’t the only ones screaming about the news, so if all goes well, they should meet at some point.

Merek walked faster.

\---

He made it outside to the landing ledge, and it was pure chaos.

Random people just stood around everywhere, some horrified at what they saw, others still waiting to see the action. In the middle of them was a group of people, mainly soldiers, surrounding something important. They all came to together to form a thick sea of humans, and Merek was half tempted to use his status to get through. Before he could say a word, a large body accidentally barreled into him. Merek looked up into his father’s apologetic eyes. He might have picked up something else, but the chaos was too heavy at this point.

“ _What_ is _happening?_ ”

Egon took a deep breath, gently using his hands to try and guide Merek away from the scene, “Marten was the only one to make it back,” well, this was off to a great start, “He managed to grab two of the captured, but they’re not… Sandor and Gwenyth have given us leave from the next meeting.”

Merek didn’t like the sound of that, “Why? When is it? Just tell me what happened dammit!”

Egon stood directly in front of Merek, seemingly blocking his son from seeing what went down, “I know you know about the Didiza and what it does. You and your sister don’t hide your nightly excursions into my library as well as you think you do,” whoops, “If it’s any consolation, it’s been found. It’s in the hands of those people, and they seem to be a little trigger happy with it. The two prisoners Marten brought back were inflicted by it. The next meeting is going to be about how to continue with our attack. If they have that kind of power, they need to be taken care of immediately.”

“Father, this is still not answering what I want to know!” Getting agitated, Merek pushed past his father to see the damage and ignoring his protests. Yes, Merek knows about Didiza and what it does, and it’s tragic for the families who will have to learn about their family members in that state, but he’s seen worse. Why is his father so insistent on hiding this-

Well, he didn’t know what stopped his heart faster: actually _seeing_ the damage once he pushed past all the people, or barely hearing his father whisper out at him, “Because one of the people Marten brought back was your _sister._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please do let me know of any glaring typos that interrupt your reading! criticism is alright as long as you're respectful about it~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	9. Chapter 9

Well, Merek is glad the people haven’t noticed that the literal Princess was one of the incapacitated rescuees, but he sure as hell hated that he did. Next to a dark-skinned woman was his sister laying on the ground, and they both had the same dead-eyed, blank stare that only the Didiza could cause. A medic was waving his hands over the two of them, failing to get any reactions. Another one even tried closing their eyelids (like they were dead, hell, that would be better than this), but they just ended up slowly opening after he took his hands away.

Because they were _that gone._

That’s not even to _mention_ the injuries that littered her face. Dried blood was at the top of her head and bottom of her nose. A wide variety of bruises, while not as bad as they could be for her, dotted her face and arms in many places. Jesus, if all of those were _visable,_ Merek absolutely dreaded what she had that _wasn’t._ God, her _fucking arms,_ they had the same rash other escapees had but it was _ten times worse on her-_

Merek only registered that he backed away in shock when he backed into his father, who said nothing as he kept his hands on Merek’s shoulders and led his unresponsive son to a room away from the commotion, “Once the crowd leaves, the Empress is going to bring Ellen to our room. We were allowed to not attend the next meeting to… essentially take it in.”

Once again, Merek only registered what was happening to him when his father draped one of their cloaks over his shoulders. Oh, he was also sitting at this point. God, shock was such a bitch. Egon sat down next to him. He didn’t wrap an arm around his son (didn’t want to overwhelm him more), but he didn’t push back when Merek leaned some on his weight on his side.

Egon would’ve been in the same position if Merek wasn’t. God, his _daughter…_ He failed as a ruler. He failed as a _father._ If he didn’t want to make them pay already, he sure as hell would now. But… that wasn’t going to do anything to bring her back. Merek was generally thinking along the same lines as his father in regards to Ellen.

He never should have let her push him. If they were both captured, he could have at least tried to do something to stop it from happening, or maybe even have joined her in this predicament. But then his father would have had to deal with two children that...

Goddammit, this sucks.

He could hear the emotion in his father’s voice, “I’m so sorry, Merek.”

So was he.

\---

They flipped between a lot of activities: reading, pacing, staring at Ellen, heck, even poking her or waving a hand over her eyes to get her to come back, but nothing helped. At this point, Merek was still pacing against the far wall, thinking of any way to either bring her back or maybe even get revenge on those people while Egon sat next to his daughter, halfway between denial and anger. Ellen’s body was simply staring with those blank eyes they’ve come to hate so much. 

Cleaning and bandaging her wounds didn’t make either of them feel any better. She didn’t need stitches anywhere, but her body might has well have been one giant bruise in the end. Not to mention the Kerizian Curse on her arms. Egon wasn’t sure if it was just because it was his daughter, but he thought it looked _worse_ on her compared to the other people that were inflicted. In the end, bandages were applied all over her chest and abdomen, as well as up and down her entire arms along with one tiny one on the cut on her forehead. If you covered her head and legs you would think she was a mummy.

The entire process made Egon and Merek angrier than they’ve been in awhile. What did those people _do_ to give her those marks?

Well, since nothing could be done for _one_ of his children, “Merek, you should sit down.”

Merek didn’t stop pacing, “I think I’m good. Thanks for the concern.”

Egon watched as his son made no attempt to even look at him. The father sighed, “Merek, getting worked up isn’t going to solve any of this-”

Merek, still pacing, spoke with such venom that not even he was aware of it, “Like sitting around as you’re doing is any better.”

Egon slightly bristled at that. He didn’t completely disagree with it, however, “Merek, you’re not listening to me-”

“How do you think we got in this mess?!” Merek turned around rapidly with one twirl to look at his father with anger and disappointment. Merek knew he was being unreasonable deep down, but right now, he just hated himself, and the only way he could express it through anger, “This wouldn’t have happened if you had just _listened_ to us in the beginning and stay-”

“Dammit, Merek, I know!”

The breath in Merek’s body left immediately. Looking at his father, he saw anger in his face, but he saw a whole lot more. Pain, loss, and most importantly, _guilt._ Egon, realizing that he was a little tense, sagged his shoulders, unclenched his fists at his pants and looked away, feeling even worse for snapping at his son like that. He looked at the floor instead, “Sorry; I know I failed you two, and that’s no reason to act like this. I’m just… so sorry, son.”

Merek also felt his tears forming, “Father, that’s not- _shit,_ I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant…” Merek rubbed the back of his neck, “You’re not a bad father. There was nothing you could’ve done. Hell, you were worse off than us. It’s a _good_ thing that you were away. It allowed you to not be captured.”

Egon let out a wet laugh, “Even so, that doesn’t change the fact that I failed you two in immeasurable ways this week.”

Merek took a deep breath, somehow keeping his sight on his father, “Well, if it’s any consolation, you’re not the only failure here tonight.” 

Neither of them had any energy to correct the other, so they just stood and sat there saying nothing. Ellen was also still there, laying on the bed between them like before. Eventually breaking their uncomfortable silence, and surprising them both, a message boy came by and knocked on their door. Egon and Merek looked at one another before Egon looked at the door and spoke to whoever was on the other side, “What is it you require?”

Egon was sitting on the side of the bed that was closest to the door, so the request the voice had was convenient, “Your Majesty, your presence is requested due to the Emperor and Empress’ absence.”

Right, with the combined powers of the Grass and Ground armadas, Sandor, Gwenyth, and Marten all marched off to finally finish this once and for all. That left the true royal family to be the _only_ royalty left on the premises. Which meant they would need to handle problems that Sandor and Gwenyth would normally handle themselves. But they weren’t here; they were off saving the Village that Egon and Merek were in charge of. If that didn’t basically show what was wrong with the world currently, then they would never know.

Inhaling sharply, Egon looked back at Merek for the okay. He wasn’t going to leave either of his children anymore if they didn’t want it. Not after all of… this. Merek took a deep breath and looked at his father with his most serious, no-room-for-argument look, “It’s alright.”

Egon didn’t entirely believe it, but he wasn’t in the mood to push it either. He stood up, looked one last time at the girl in the bed, then slowly turned around to walk out of the room. He was careful to open the door wide enough to let himself out, but not too much as to let the random escort see in. Merek heard Egon strike up a conversation with the escort as they left. As they got quieter and quieter, Merek went over to the other side of where Egon was and sat down. He could only stare at his sister (who hadn’t even twitched yet).

Merek let out a sigh again and leaned over. He clenched his fist and placed it against his chin, trying to hold back any tears that wanted to be free. In the blurry part of his vision was still his sister with eyes as blank as a new piece of paper, for the same bullshit reason as always. He ground his teeth together in a scowl, closing his eyes to still try and stop his tears.

That conversation they had a few weeks ago seemed so ironic now.

_“Those books are technically illegal, you know.”_

_Ellen rolled her eyes at the voice in the doorway, “Relax, Royalty can break the rules sometimes!”_

_Merek was leaning on the doorframe arms crossed. He could also roll his eyes at his sister, “Aren’t you the one who’s completely against abuse of power?”_

_Merek walked over to sit next to his sister as she repeated his words in a mocking tone. Once he sat down, she started up again, “It’s not like I’m threatening a newsletter company to shut down because they criticized us. Besides, this info is really wack.”_

_In the end, Merek supposed that she was allowed a little snooping after being lied to for so long about this stuff, “Really? What have you read about?”_

_Ellen was bouncing in excitement, “There’s this artifact lost to time called the ‘Didiza’. It’s your typical glowing glass orb, but if a Psychic or Dark type learns how to wield it, it can basically screw your conscience around, “to the point of no return. Constant turmoil of the soul, never fully there but enough to feel it's been dirtied.” God… I sound like a professional torturer. Apparently, groups have been searching for it since the “dawn of the ages”. So probably a really long ass time.” She shoved the book into his hands so he could see it himself._

_Merek felt shivers down his spine as he looked at the picture of the object. That sounded… awful, to be honest. He grabbed his chin with his hand to think, “Maybe it shouldn’t be found then.”_

_Ellen just shrugged and grabbed a different book, “It probably never will, if that makes you feel better,” that fact is also probably why she finds it to be like a roadside attraction more than anything else, “Hey, Father’s not going to be home until tomorrow night. Help me get through two more books and I’ll give you 50 bucks.”_

_Ooh, a challenge. That sounded fun. Merek grabbed a different book from the pile, “Alright, deal. You have to read yours faster than me, though.”_

_Ellen giggled. She was rather giddy tonight, “Oh, you’re_ on. _”_

_Merek just smiled as the two eventually started leaning into one another as they read their respective books. After a minute or so, Merek would look over his sister who had calmly fallen asleep on his shoulder. If he wanted to, he could very easily win the bet right now, but he doesn’t want to. Instead, he takes the book out of her hands, grabs the blanket down at her feet and gently wraps it around her. Once that was done, he set his own book down and placed his cheek on the top of her head with a grin._

_They were an atypical family, yet he’s come to appreciate it._

Merek only picked up on the fact that he was crying when his tears hit his arm. He also saw some of those tears hit the ground below him. Dammit dammit dammit. The last thing he wanted to do was cry. Looking back up at his sister, he shakily took her hand and placed it gently against his face. He let out a wet chuckle, tears seeping onto the skin of her hand.

“You probably took this to save someone, you selfless prick,” Merek started crying harder, “You can never stand by if you can do something about it…” He just stared at her face, still as soulless as it’s been. It’s so weird when he cries. Half of the liquid just gets caught in his eyepatch. It’s why he avoids crying so much; he hates cleaning it later.

“But… sometimes I just wish you could be a little more selfish. Keep yourself safe even though it would hurt others. I know it’s not fair to the other family- it goes against everything we stand for- but… our family matters too, you know. _You_ matter... and all I want is for you to pull something out of your ass like you always do and just come back-”

He choked on all the emotions coursing through him. Merek took his other hand and squeezed her tiny one in between his, “Just… please come back to us. To _me._ ”

Since his eyes were closed, he didn’t see it: Ellen’s necklace, the one she’s had practically all of her life. Merek’s tirade was subconsciously coursing energy into her, and subsequently into that necklace. Because of that, it started to glow. It kept getting brighter and brighter, to the point the entire bed looked like it just had a glowing light containing it.

Underneath all that light was a girl. Her eyes were somehow getting more colorful, and feeling was coming back to her body little by little. Once the light died off, she actually managed to _blink._ Something was holding her hand. Moving only her eyes, she looked to her left to spot a familiar face.

“... Merek?”

Merek’s eyes opened, yet he kept her hand to her face. Was that really?... Is she?...

A few more words confirmed his greatest dream, “You’re… okay?”

Merek dropped her hand and looked directly at her face. She looked exhausted. She looked like she was on the verge of death. She looked like she was in disbelief just as he was.

She looked like she was finally _awake._

With a quiet cry of joy, he leaned forward and scooped her up into his arms. He squeezed her as tight as possible. When that happened, she gained a little more clarity of her situation. All she did in response was lightly drape her arms around him in return. He was squeezing her so tight that it aggravated her minor injuries, but she didn’t really care.

They both were shaking. Ellen was weak and tired, but Merek was just crying his heart out. He was showing a lot more emotion than he normally would but fuck it, she’s _back._ With his face in her chest, he wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that. He knows they stayed like that for a good couple of minutes, however.

He eventually relented and let her out of his grasp, even though he didn’t want to. She did need to breathe at some point. He kept his hand on her shoulder, however, “Ellen… what happened?”

She just ended up shrugging, “They brought a couple of us into this room and collectively used the Didiza on us- it didn’t hurt, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Merek audibly sighed in relief, “It was like being put under for surgery, to be honest.”

Merek just simply nodded and swallowed down any emotions trying to resurge, “Okay… You know, I can’t help but assume you did it to save someone from the same fate. You always did like going out with a bang, you little attention-seeker.”

Ellen somehow managed to roll her eyes, “I mean, that would’ve been a nice touch, but no. It was either being mentally ripped apart or just killed, and I figured I could come back from the former at the very least.”

Merek stayed silent after that. Ellen worried she’d done something bad, but then he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her again, placing his chin on her shoulder. Ah, so he figured out that she was hoping he would be the one to bring her back. His last question was an emotion-filled whisper, “Why did you think I could do it?”

‘Why’. He used ‘why’. The word choice was important there. She just shrugged again, “You’re my brother, you can pull the impossible off just as much as I can.”

Merek tensed in shock. That’s… yeah. More tears managed to leak out of his eyes as he tightened his hold. Ellen just sleepily grinned as she put her arms back around him so she could rub his back, letting him let down his walls for a moment. She has no idea what he’s had to do since they split, and it’s probably been everything except calm.

It was good to be back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please do let me know of any glaring typos that interrupt your reading! criticism is alright as long as you're respectful about it~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	10. Chapter 10

It hit Merek that his sister was injured.

And the fact that he was squeezing one of the most painful areas she had. He finally released her for the last time (at least for now). He helped her to sit up by building up a nice tower of pillows for her back. As he watched her settle in, he also watched as an unhappy emotion formed on her face, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Ellen shook her head, “No, I’m just… thinking... about something I felt.”

Merek tilted his head, “Oh? I’m all ears, just so you know.”

Ellen smirked and rolled her eyes ever so slightly, “I’m sure you are.” She wiggled a little bit more in her spot before sighing. There. Now she was comfortable, “It’s just… One of the guards I saw while the Didiza was being used on me gave me that feeling I get whenever something is off about a person, you know?”

Merek was concerned, but he didn’t feel the need to panic just yet. He kept listening.

Ellen was looking toward the wall, “Normally, I would just tell someone about it later like I always do, but this feeling just… stayed with me. The Didiza might have had me under, but I could still feel things with my powers. Even when I was under, it felt like it was following me. Like it was carrying me...”

Merek’s alarm meter was slowly climbing.

Ellen looked away from the wall to look at Merek, “I felt that feeling near another feeling similar to Father at some point, but why?”

This is when it hit Merek who was the one to carry her in from the Village. Who talked to Merek and his father before they left. Who has the ‘ability’ to get into the Village even though no one else could. Who was the only one Merek told about the wall. Who was helping lead two valiant leaders right into their _deaths._

Fuck, _Marten-_

Ellen finally read Merek’s growing panic, “Wha- Merek, what’s-”

Standing up rapidly, he quietly spoke, “Sorry,” to his sister before turning around and rushing toward the door of their room. Dammit. Dammit dammit dammit! No wonder he could easily get past the wall: he was allowed the fuck in! That dirty little-

Merek flinched as he heard Ellen’s protest, but he forced himself to keep going

All along he thought that man was respectable. He completely believed the lie about having a soldier who could take the wall down. He had enough respect as a fellow comrade to trust his abilities. Merek was a fucking idiot for that, and now, a shit ton of people’s lives were in danger. He was also the only one who _knew_ about the danger, so if he didn’t hurry the fuck up, the worst will come to happen.

Hopefully, Ellen can forgive him for leaving her later.

\---

He felt only slightly bad for leaving her back there, but since she was finally ‘okay’, Merek could safely say that there was a bigger problem at hand.

He was still looking back at the door when he speed-walked right into a random person’s chest. Before he could say sorry, he looked up into the _incredibly_ familiar face, “Father?”

Egon was back. He was rather tired, but his son’s panicking face perked him up nicely. Egon set his hands on Merek’s shoulders, “Merek? What’s wrong? What happened?”

Breathing heavily, Merek thought quickly. His father wasn’t going to let him leave right now. Not with everything that happened. Thankfully, Merek remembered that he had a very convenient sort-of half-lie, “Ellen is awake.”

Egon blinked before registering his son’s words. He grinned like a man being told he was cured of cancer; he was in pure disbelief, “Really?”

Merek nearly started crying again at how happy his father sounded, “Yeah, you should see her.”

It was a few moments of tense silence before Egon gripped Merek’s shoulders tighter to pull his son into a quick, but crushing hug. Registering what happened, Merek placed his arms around his father’s shoulders to return the sentiment. Merek understood; he still didn’t entirely believe it himself. Letting go, Egon looked at his son one more time before nearly sprinting back to their room. 

Once he was in and the door was shut, Merek, unlike his father, literally sprinted to the takeoff platform where the Emperor and Empress left to go fight the attackers with that bastard of a traitor. Once he got out there, he noticed a handful of people sitting around. It was Nikki, Harris, Rufus, Cliff, and Devon. They all seemed rather disgruntled about being left behind, but once they saw Merek, they just got worried.

Harris was the one to speak this time, “Woah, dude, what’s wrong?”

Merek strutted past all the concerned Guardians to get to the wall of weapons. As he was choosing one to take with him, he explained why he was acting as if he was under attack, “Ellen is awake now. You can all go see her,” they gasped in shock, but Merek wasn’t done, “But the reason I left her is that I’m pretty sure our fighters are walking into a trap. Marten set this whole thing up. Someone needs to stop him and his plans. Feel free to come along, but if you want to see Ellen safe and sound, I won’t stop you.”

His eyes landed on a spear at the end of his tirade. Reaching forward and grabbing it, he rotated the weapon around to examine it from every side. After deeming it okay, he brandished it. He needs the best possible defense right now. Tying the spear so it could rest on his back, he turned around and widened his eyes in shock.

The five Guardians were still there, every single one of them grinning at Merek. They each had their own words of encouragement to say. 

“Hell yeah we’re helping you! That’s our job!”

“Ellen is in good hands, the Village is not.”

“It might hurt not being able to see her right away, but saving everyone is what she’d want us to do first!”

“Lead the way, dude.”

“I got nothing else to say. Ditto.”

Merek blinked a few times, not entirely hearing what they were saying, “Are you guys sure? I completely understand if-”

Nikki pushed her finger against his mouth to shut him up. Looking behind her, the other four Guardians were still smiling. Speaking for them all, Rufus just laughed, “Dude, the reason we’re all sitting out here is that they wouldn’t let us go with them in the first place.”

Devon was smirking as well, “Yeah. If you take us, we can put the blame on someone else for disobeying orders.”

Nikki’s finger came off of his mouth, and Merek rolled his eyes. Yep, they were idiots. Incredibly loyal and selfless idiots. Standing up straight with the spear attached to his back and looking out over the Grass Homeland to the wall of vines, Merek spoke, “Alright then, let’s go.”

Each Guardian made a noise in confirmation. 

Six shadows ran through the forest under the moonlight, more determined than ever.

\---

Quietly shutting the door behind him, Egon called out into the dark room, “Ellen?”

With bated breath, he waited until he heard her quiet voice, “Father?”

Letting out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, he slowly walked back to her bed. Standing over her, he could feel emotions rising in his chest. Yeah, the bandages and bruises didn’t look pretty, and chances are he and Merek would be a wee bit overprotective for the next few ~~weeks~~ days, but _damn_ if those _full of life_ eyes didn’t make him want to collapse on his knees in utter relief. Before he did that, though...

Sitting down in the chair he was in before, he didn’t even _try_ to hold back his tears. Working around her long hair, he gently picked up his ~~tiny~~ daughter in his arms and pulled her close. Unlike Merek, he made sure to be wary of her injuries right off the bat. His chin got placed on the top of her head while she wrapped her arms around his waist. With her face in his chest, she could feel his wings get wrapped around her in a cocoon of comfort. 

This was so fucking nice… 

Ah shit, she didn’t even realize she was crying and shaking until he started slightly rocking her back and forth. That’s when she realized that he wrapped his wings around her on purpose. He wanted her to let go. Dammit. She was holding it together so well until now. Well, who cares. This feels nice anyway. Screw her dignity for one moment in her entire long ass life.

Once her shaking stopped, Egon put his wings away and softly pushed her out to arm's length to look at her face. Her eyes were mainly staring at his chest (probably embarrassed for whatever reason), but the grin on her face was undeniably there. Using his thumb, he brought one of his large hands up from her shoulder to wipe one of her tear tracks away. She finally looked up at his face with that movement. He was grinning like an idiot, “Hey, sweetheart. It’s good to see you again.”

Ellen let out a small laugh, “Yeah, I could say the same to you, to be honest.”

Both of them still smiling, they placed their foreheads against each other’s. Big, gloppy tears streamed down both of their cheeks, but all they could look at in their close proximity was their big, joy-filled eyes. The scene was ridiculously sappy, and Ellen felt like she was in a dramatic movie for a second. Her next thought kind of reinforced that idea.

Egon pulled his forehead away to kiss her head. Ellen blushed at the contact, but didn’t try to push it away either, “Um, Father? I have a question…”

Leaning away from the kiss, Egon raised an eyebrow, still smiling, “You can ask anything you want, sweetie.”

Ellen puffed up her cheeks in worry, “Why hasn’t Merek come back yet?”

Egon’s grin finally went away. Yep, sounds about right. Ellen just sighed in annoyance, but she also felt her mischievous, hero side flare up at the news.

Some people just never change.

‘Go kick his ass, Merek.’

\---

Merek entered the (not walled off) Village and blinked at what he saw.

On the outskirts laid rows of cots for wounded prisoners and soldiers alike. Doctors were working overtime to take care of their issues. In the middle of the actual battle was somehow even more chaotic. Mainly playing defense were the Grass soldiers, standing over prisoners and their families with their shields, fighting off anyone who came and tried to stop them. The ones playing offense were the Ground ones, using all their strength to smash their opponents.

It was very… organized. Merek turned around to look at the Guardians, but he saw open air. It appears that they jumped into the chaos as soon as they knew what was happening. Merek could understand that. What he couldn’t understand was some of the fighters that were on their side. Most of the enemy army had _some_ form of grey robes, so they were easy to pin down. However, you would think that meant the soldiers on his side would only be wearing green and tan ones.

Which was mostly true; he saw a crap ton of Grass and Ground soldiers. But occasionally, Merek would see a spot of red, or yellow, or blue, or, heck, even purple fighting! Did they pick up extras on the way? Well, whatever happened, Merek didn’t need to think about it that much longer. A voice shouted out to him.

“Your Highness! _Duck!_ ”

Merek popped a squat and listened as the enemy behind him screamed out in pain. Standing back up, Merek recognized the soldier that saved him. It was the one that led the attack against him and the Guardians when they were still running away at the start of the takeover. The soldier came up next to him, “What are you doing here? Are you alright?”

Merek nodded his head, “I’m fine, but you might not be. Marten’s a traitor! He’s set up a trap! I was stupid and didn’t even consider to warn you, and now you all might be-”

“We know.”

… Huh?

The soldier threw a sharp blade of grass at an enemy running away nearby, “We were going to fall for it, but the prisoners that could stepped up and started helping us fight them off. Our numbers quickly became unstoppable. Gotta say, your people really know how to fight.”

Oh, that explained the occasional odd color out. Merek didn’t even try holding back the grin that formed on his face. When their father said that their Village was full of warriors, Merek didn’t know how seriously to take that. The answer? Very. Gripping his spear, Merek charged forward. Only to be immediately stopped by that same Grass soldier shoving a different spear in front of him.

Merek was going to object, but then he saw the look on the soldier.

It was serious, but it had a hint of desperation behind it, “Her Elegance is wounded but still with us. The medics are taking care of her. Those heathens managed to grab His Elegance and took him that way,” the soldier’s spear pointed to a hill with a cave on it, “We have no way to know about His status. Someone needs to rescue Him before the worst comes to happen.”

Merek turned his head over and looked at the cave in the distance. His face was unreadable.

Looking back at the battlefield, the soldier tried to ease his worry, “If you wish, I can request more hands to come with you-”

Merek took a step forward and regripped his weapon, “No. Don’t worry, I got this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please do let me know of any glaring typos that interrupt your reading! criticism is alright as long as you're respectful about it~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	11. Chapter 11

Merek made it to the front of the cave.

And immediately saw Marten’s dead body. At least, he thinks it is. Whatever color robes the body was wearing didn’t matter with how blood-stained they were now. Not to mention the countless sharp things sticking out of its back. Merek doesn’t even try to turn the dead body over to see its face. He just lets out a scoff and walks past it; thinking no higher of it than roadkill.

Scratch that, nowadays he actually feels a little bad when he sees roadkill on the side of the road.

Marten was a good soldier, a respectable leader even, but his morals were skewed to hell and back. Merek might have been a little cold-hearted and maybe even an asshole growing up before Ellen came back into his life, but even he was a good person when it came to his job and position. Marten didn’t even have second thoughts when he was offered a greater position of power.

Inside the cave, Merek heard talking and immediately took cover once it sounded like he was right next to it. Peering over the rock he chose as a shield, he saw three figures: Sandor, who was a little roughed up and bleeding, but otherwise fine; that lady that Merek and Ellen fought at the start of it all was strutting circles around Sandor kneeling on the ground, and over Sandor was an armored man who Merek hasn’t seen until now. The man gripped Sandor by the hair and held a sword to his throat.

Yay. 

Merek crouched down a little bit more and listened. To make a long story short, the lady explained how the current Royal Family was doing an awful job at not following the _traditional ways_ that have worked for centuries (have they? Or was nobody able to point out how bad they were until now?), and so somebody needed to come in and stop them. ‘Andrik’ promised to do just that. Very original, you guys. At least that explains why they use so many illegal practices. Anyone who opposed them would be taken out and yadda yadda yadda. Marten’s trap was supposed to get the rest of the Royal Family to rush into their demise (so they attacked her to make them mad; Merek supposes that it worked in the end, but not as much as they were hoping), but considering the trap failed spectacurlarly, Marten was tossed into the trash like the garbage he was.

At least they and Merek agreed about how bad Marten was. Maybe they thought he was bad for different reasons, but hey, tomato-tomahto or whatever. Wait a minute, Marten’s trap _did_ work. Merek was here! He ran into it blindly like they expected him to. Shit, he shouldn’t let them know he was there, but the Emperor-

Adjusting his legs, Merek accidentally knocked some rocks down the ledge he was on. The only noise that filled the cave were those rocks. Meanwhile, the only noise in Merek’s head was a string of very vulgar words as he attempted to make no movement whatsoever.

Didn’t work.

Alanna snapped her head up and spotted him. At first, she just spotted a random intruder, but it quickly became apparent who this new visitor really was. She smiled evilly and bowed graciously to her husband with the knowledge of this fabulous news, “Your Graciousness, Marten maybe wasn’t so wrong in the end, as it appears that some of the Royal family is, in fact, here.”

Oh shit.

Andrik slowly moved his line of vision up to where Merek was. Man, Merek could _feel_ the glare from that far away. Andrik slowly took the sword away from Sandor and released his hair. Seeing as Merek wasn’t going to be able to leave without a fight, right as Andrik got the mildest amount of distance from the Emperor, he pounced. With a shout, the two clashed and were face to face. Merek vaguely registered Sandor’s pleas in the background, but when he saw out of the corner of his eye that the Emperor was only being held back by Alanna and not being hurt by her, he ignored them.

Gotta say, Merek was a little intimidated by this man’s stature, but when he remembered everything this man did in the past week, he found it in himself to push as hard as possible and make this wannabee king trip momentarily. Using that opening, Merek tried swiping at him, but Andrik was able to jump back and dodge. The two stood a couple of feet apart now, breathing heavily and glaring at one another.

Andrik spoke first, “This is no way to treat your king.”

Merek tightened his hold on his spear, “Well, too bad my father is the king, then.”

Andrik’s stature immediately got tight in anger. The two yelled out and charged again.

After clashing once more, Andrik tried swiping his sword at Merek. He ducked, slid on his knees, and when the opportune moment struck, Merek went and flicked the spear into Andrik’s right side, receiving a grunt for his efforts. With a cry of rage, Andrik brought the sword back for another attack. Merek twisted his ankles and leaped into the air over it. Doing a flip over Andrik, Merek landed on the ground behind him and stabbed the spear into his back. Merek miscalculated and hit the metallic chestplate. Damn, he was hoping to get the part not covered!

Using a speed Merek didn’t think was possible, Andrik turned back around with his sword over his head. Merek only managed to widen his eyes and bring his spear up into a horizontal position when Andrik brought it down. The wood this spear was made of was insanely good, holy shit. The sword only went about halfway through it. Merek can’t take a hit like that again, regardless if the spear was between him and the attack or not.

Fuck, he needs to find a new approach to this, and he needs to find it _fast._

For the next couple of minutes, similar things would happen. It was weird being a mouse in this situation. Because of how he works in his job, Merek tended to be the cat, but considering he was the one dodging most of the time here, he had to admit he was the tiny party for once. Like a fly dodging a fly swatter and still being courageous enough to ocassionally land on the person _using_ the fly swatter.

That’s fine. If he’s learned anything from Ellen’s fighting style, being the smaller one in the fight is way more beneficial than people realize.

The tone of the fight changed when they stepped a little too close to the nearby cliff. Merek swiped down with his weapon a little too hard, giving Andrik the time and space to pick up his armored foot and kick Merek right in the face. It was off-center, so it didn’t hit his nose, but the left side of his face was going to be sore for a while, to say the least. Merek’s grunt of pain coupled with his momentary blackout led to what happened next.

Before Merek could recoil back too far, he panic-grabbed Andrik’s leg and pulled. Both of them tripped, and- hey, that drop looks a lot bigger now that they’re over it. Wait, when did he start screaming-

The fall Merek tumbled down certainly didn’t feel good as it happened, and he’ll probably feel it for weeks to come. His back smacking against that blunt pointy rock that took his breath away didn’t feel too good either. He was backed into a corner, with nothing but the singular spear he brought with him that was a few inches out of his reach. Glad to see he’s still making stupid decisions. Sitting up as much as possible, Merek watched Andrik, who was a few feet away and shakily standing back up. He was also very angry if the sword in his hands being gripped as tight as possible was any indication.

Fuck it, it’s either get the spear and try or face death like a coward. Andrik walked closer and closer, and Merek continued to hopelessly clench at his weapon of choice. Right as Andrik got over him and stabbed downward, Merek swung the spear forward and jabbed. The entire scene reeked of ‘cliche final movie fight’ in his opinion. It also occurred to Merek that Andrik was still wearing armor. Honestly, the world stopped, and part of Merek hoped it never started again.

Slowly opening his eyes to understand what happened, Merek gasped at what he saw. The fact that Andrik was wearing armor didn’t matter in the end. 

Yes, the sword stabbed Merek’s chest, but it only went in about an inch or so into his skin. Andrik, on the other hand, was nearly run through by Merek’s spear. What was that saying? It was better to be lucky than smart? Well, luck was truly on Merek’s side, considering the spear managed to weasel its way into the little gap that Andrik’s armor had. 

Andrik wasn’t so intimidating when he pathetically fell over, taking his sword away from Merek’s chest and the end of the spear with him. With an audible ‘snap’ the spear broke in half, and Merek could only pant in relief as Andrik didn’t get back up. The adrenaline drop hit Merek hard, and the singular reason he didn’t throw up was the fact that his chest was too busy heaving air out of it instead of the food he ate before he left.

Back up at the top, Sandor breathed a sigh of relief. The kid actually did it. He celebrated for about one second before he felt the rage come off Alanna in waves. She practically growled, shoving his face into the ground with her hand on the back of his head. He shakily sat up, but when he turned around to look at the woman, he saw nothing.

She must have realized she was losing and ran. Sandor scoffed. He might have respected her a little bit, really, she was a fierce leader, but the fact that she left her followers to die so she could escape was despicable. He’s met people who’ve run knives through his gut to be more honorable than her. When he turned back to the cliff, he widened his eyes in shock.

The Prince was slowly walking toward him. He must have taken that time to climb back up, “Y-Your Highness! Are-”

Merek shook his head, stopping Sandor from saying anything, “Don’t worry about it. It’s just my back at this point. Besides, I also made sure he was dead- and then some- before I came up.”

Sandor was in awe at this man’s abilities, “That’s not what I-”

Merek had come up next to him and got an arm around his shoulders, lifting him off the ground, “Sorry if this hurts, but we got to get you back to the professionals. I-”

Sandor bit the bullet, “Will you just listen?!”

There, Merek finally shut up. He moved his head to look at Sandor with an unreadable face.

Sandor took a deep breath, “I just want to say; thank you. You saved my life. For that, you have my gratitude.”

Emotions flew across Merek’s face for a few seconds before he went back to an apathetic stare, “Yeah... Anyway, let’s get you to the doctors.”

\---

When they got back to the Village, everyone noticed the Grass Emperor and Prince.

Especially considering the fact that the Emperor needed the Prince to hold him up. Taking no time at all, people of all shapes and sizes swarmed Merek and Sandor, all of them panicking an equal amount. Merek had no opportunity to say anything as those same people took Sandor from his side and gave him the same equal treatment.

“Your Elegance! Quickly, get the medics-”

“Your Highness! Are you-”

“They’ve returned! They’ve-”

“MEREK!”

Blinking a few times, Merek let out a gasp when he felt a hand smack the back of his head. Ready to tell the person off, Merek lost any argument he had when he saw five familiar faces. Nikki was in front of him, so he could at least rule her our as the person who smacked him, “Wha- Hey? What was that for?!”

Nikki had her hands at her hips, “Rufus smacked you because you’re an idiot, idiot! Why did you run off like that?”

Merek rubbed the back of his head while looking at her with confusion, “Because I was told to?”

Nikki’s argument died as she breathed out, so Cliff took her place as the speaker of the group, “Yeah, but… we could’ve helped, you know?”

Devon shook his head, “Scared us shitless when we heard where you went. The only reason we didn’t chase you was because they needed extra help getting to the center of this whole operation.”

Rufus lightly slapped Merek on the back twice, keeping his hand there as he spoke, “Gotta say, though, that was some Grade-A… whatever you used to pull this off. Ellen’s praise about how you work certainly shines through right about now.”

Merek, not really handling so many people being concerned for him all at once, just swallowed his own spit, “Oh, uh, thanks for the concern, I guess. Did you really think I could handle it though?”

Rufus let out a hearty laugh. Harris just rolled his eyes, “Well, duh. You’re one of the most well-known Commanders out in the real world, of course you’d bring that skill here.”

Nikki giggled, “You refuse to die even when all the laws of physics say you should. Ellen’s the same way. Deep down, we knew you would be alright.”

… Okay.

After that conversation, the six of them were each given separate jobs. Well, Merek wasn’t really given a ‘job’ in the end. He was the Prince and injured, so he was told to wait around until the okay to head back was given. Considering he hates sitting around doing nothing, he might as well walk around and survey the aftermath. It was essentially the chaotic calm after a storm. He just went around looking at all the injured and listened in on the plans for how to get them and other things back to home base. In doing so, Merek spotted two familiar faces.

Sitting on the ground a few feet away with their hands tied behind their backs were those two boys that caused Ellen to get captured in the first place. Emotions budded in Merek’s chest at the sight. He started walking toward them, yet stopped when they did something both expected and unexpected.

The two of them seemed to panic when they saw Merek enter their field of visions. Typical: they can’t do the time after doing the crime. Always happens with people as young as them. Only sighing once, Merek spared once glance at the two kids before walking away, “Stop while you’re ahead, guys. Use those skills of yours for good. Lord knows how beneficial they would be.”

Merek wasn’t looking at them, but he definitely felt their shock grow larger and larger. He was serious about what he said; they really should use their powers for better. Ellen would want it that way. Hell, _Merek_ wants it that way. He knows those kids can do amazing things. After walking for a few moments, he saw two soldiers holding a familiar glass orb. They were being given orders to watch it at all costs. What will happen to it will be decided back at the Homeland.

Hopefully, wiped off the face of the Earth. The only place it deserves after all of this. After they fix the other prisoners inflicted, of course. Merek saw a few laying down on cots with that dead-eye stare. He still hates it, especially after…

Merek shivered. He didn’t want to think about it. Getting his wings out and putting his arms up against them, he watched as one of the leading soldiers in Ground armor yell out, “Alright! Let’s head back home!”

Cheers were heard. Merek took off.

He could finally breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please do let me know of any glaring typos that interrupt your reading! criticism is alright as long as you're respectful about it~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	12. Chapter 12

After thinking for a little bit, Merek just flew back in a daze. No one called out to him or tried to grab his attention (or at least he never heard them if they did), so that left him to stew in his own thoughts. And pain. His back hurt like a mother fucker, and now that everyone was safe (at least half of the soldiers stayed back at the Village to watch over it), Merek could focus on his family. The one he kind of ran away from in a panic. Dammit, he already felt bad about it; now that he could focus on it made it worse

Hell, he focused on everything but the trek back so much that he didn’t realize they were back at the Grass Homeland until cheering brought him back to reality. Oh, he’s even back at the takeoff platform of the Tree. Just how out of it was he? Looking around, he saw people hugging, crying, and doing all kinds of rejoicing. Couples kissed, kids leaped into parents’ arms, and more importantly:

“Merek?! Merek?!”

His sister was up and walking around. And it sounded like she was looking for him. He needs to show her that he’s okay before she freaks out too much (and maybe prevent himself from doing the same).

Once he finally saw her, he took a few steps toward her so he could catch her attention. It worked, as she snapped her head toward him after seeing movement out of the corner of her eye. Both of their eyes were wide, and they were damn near hyperventilating. Once she saw him, she sprinted and leaped into his arms. The way she landed on him caused Merek to take those few steps back to allow the momentum from her jump to end naturally. Her arms were around his neck, and he gripped onto her waist like it was the only thing keeping him alive.

They each had their heads on the other’s shoulder. Ellen just stayed silent, keeping her emotions intact (and slightly failing) while Merek was happy that she was finally up and walking around. Wait a minute, that’s the problem! She shouldn’t be! She needs _rest._ He found the words for what he wanted to say “Ellen, what the hell are you doing out here? You should be resting!”

A deep, male voice came from behind him, stopping him cold, “I said that too, but since she’s been on such good behavior and not sneaking out behind my back, I figured I’d let it slide.”

Merek felt that familiar panic a child would feel after being found out they stole from the cookie jar. Before he could apologize, he was swiftly lifted upward, sandwiched between his father and sister. If he didn’t grip her tighter he might have nearly dropped her. Damn, his father was strong. Merek’s feet weren’t even touching the ground anymore, which probably meant Ellen’s weren’t either.

Merek turned his head as much as he could to look at his father. He blinked in shock once he saw that Egon was crying, “Welcome back, Merek. You’re shaping up to be a better warrior than anyone will ever expect.”

When Merek felt Ellen’s tears soak his shirt, he figured it was his turn to let go too. Still being held up in the air, the family all started laughing like it was a cheesy ending to a film, each and everyone with tear tracks down their face. It took a long time for anyone to let each other go.

But they eventually needed to do that. Dodging everyone out on the platform, they walked back to their shared room. Ellen needed new bandages for her injuries, and Merek needed to follow in her footsteps and get some of his own. Neither of them commented on the fact that their father kept one arm around their shoulders three-fourths of the way back.

In the one-fourth where he didn’t, Ellen walked out slightly in front of them, “So how exactly are we gonna wake everyone up? It’s kind of a miracle that you got me to in the first place.”

Merek thought, but Egon had the same idea as him, “I’ll call for professionals who will tinker with the Didiza. If it takes a person to activate it and use it, I’m sure we can find a way to reverse the effects the same way.”

Merek nodded, letting his father finish speaking, “Exactly. I think the only reason they couldn’t find a way to reverse the curse is that they just didn’t try to. Now we can.”

Ellen, satisfied with those answers, turned back around and looked down the hallway. She stopped when she saw a familiar face walking towards them, “Your Elegance! What are you doing walking around? I would think your guards would practically force you into your bed-”

Sandor held up a hand, cutting her off. When she stopped, he brought it back down, smiling at all of them, “I was just about to head there, but there was something I needed to tell someone.”

When Sandor’s gaze landed on Merek, he blinked

Sandor brought his hands to his hips, “Everyone is rejoicing with our hard-earned victory. A feast is going to be held in the ballroom. I’ve come to personally invite you and your family, Your Highness.”

Merek had to blink at that while his father and sister did the same thing, “Wait, me? But why? I don’t think I really did anything-”

Sandor looked at him in a way that spoke, ‘are you really being this stupid right now?’ “Nonsense, you saved my life. That kind of heart and soul deserves to be celebrated.”

Merek’s head was swimming with many unexplainable things. The sleep-deprivation he was sporting certainly didn’t help, “Gee, I don’t know, it’s a gracious offer, but-”

Ellen gasped. What in the wrold was Merek doing? “Free food Merek! And it’s free food specifically _for you!_ Don’t turn this down!” She was mainly objecting because she knew he didn’t think he deserved it, the idiot. Besides, he needs to release all that tension in his shoulders somehow.

Ellen stared at him with those same wide eyes that a small child would have, waiting for approval. Even after everything, she could still be so child-like. Staring at her with a billion emotions running through his head for a good couple of seconds, Merek eventually sighed and looked at the Emperor, “Alright, I guess we can come for an hour or two.”

Smirking, Egon looked away from his kids to look at Sandor along with them, “Then I guess you’ll need three extra chairs at that Royalty Table you definitely will have.”

When Sandor made a motion that showed him faking offense, they all laughed. Even Merek, who was starting to realize that everything was turning out to be okay.

\---

In the end, Merek kind of just sat the entire time.

He walked around for a bit, talked to the Guardians and Ellen hanging out in their own corner, tried to hide his blush when the thanks were given out to everyone that fought hard, then went and found his father. They both calmly sat at that aforementioned table, sitting as close as possible so they could be comfortable but not catch anyone’s attention. They did want to come to the party, yes, but they didn’t want to be overwhelmed.

“Hey! Ellen! Watch this!” 

Merek snapped his head to an open spot on the floor to see Nikki. She had saved some of her charged electricity for tonight, and it seemed like she was going to use it now. Twirling around and bringing the power down to her arms, she shot it out in many directions, forming a star shape on the ground. Nikki stood up and mischievously stared at her leader. She was clearly proud of her abilities.

Looking away from Nikki, Merek looked over at his sister, who was leaning against a wall next to Rufus and Harris. She watched Nikki do her trick and woo the crowd with nothing but a mildly-intrigued stare. Handing her drink to Harris, Ellen made her way over to Nikki. Merek nearly stood up- Ellen shouldn’t do anything too strenuous- but his father’s hand on his knee kept him grounded.

Yeah, Ellen won’t do anything too stupid… hopefully.

Calmly walking over to the electricity still on the ground, Ellen leaned over and absorbed the star. Standing back up straight, Ellen took one look at Nikki with a face that said, ‘you made a mistake’, and started twirling herself. Pirouetting to finish it off, Ellen stomped her foot down and sent electricity off the same way. However, instead of just staying on the ground like Nikki’s formation, it shot upward as well, briefly forming the shape of a flower.

Ellen made sure the electricity dissipated after everyone got a chance to see it. After all, not even she felt like carrying it until she had the chance set if off somewhere outside. She also made it go away to add in a factor of ‘look how much better I am than you.’ Merek could only widen his eyes in awe. Meanwhile, Nikki was widening her eyes for a completely different reason. Running her hand through her hair, Ellen started walking toward Nikki.

The Electric Guardian gulped as Ellen came up right next to her. Ellen’s smile was as friendly as could be, but her eyes were dark, “You think because we’re in a crowd I’ll hold back? Remember to behave yourself, we do need to show off our best after all.”

Shit, not even Merek could hold back his cheers for that one. He may have even laughed a little bit as his sister calmly walked away from Nikki, who was halfway between disbelief and being starstruck. Devon had come up behind her and gave her a pat on the back that spoke, ‘you’ll get em’ next time.’

Finishing off his laugh, Merek looked over at his father. While the man wasn’t reacting as much as he was, Merek could tell he too enjoyed Ellen’s display of her abilities. Yeah, Merek was damn prideful of his family too. Sometimes even a little too prideful. He took a sip from his drink.

Merek looked back over the room with admiration. Even as the party continued on into the night, he just kept thinking about where he was and where it would take him. Things were going to keep annoying him, make him mad, and even try to kill him, but with the forces he’s formed over the years, those worst-case scenarios that would come for them didn’t seem to be too much of a problem. At least tonight.

Bringing his glass to his lips, he smirked again. He didn’t stop smirking for the rest of the night.

\---

It was after the feast, and they were all in their room.

They would spend the night to recuperate, then head back home in the morning. Ellen had her injuries checked out and rebandaged, while Merek had the same thing. At first, he may have objected. Just because he was sore as hell doesn’t mean it was fatal. However, one look from their father made them shut up. At the end of the night, he needed to fuss over them just a little bit. Ellen’s bandages ended up staying the same, and Merek just had some wrapped around his chest. Ellen had small bruises all over her face with a tiny square bandage on her forehead. Merek just had a giant bruise on his left jawbone. They both had eye bags as deep as the sea.

Once Egon was done, he stood back from his kids on the bed. They were sitting next to each other, waiting for him to respond. With non-used bandages in one of his hands, he let out a sigh, “Look at that. You two match now.”

Looking once at each other, Ellen and Merek stood up slowly before leaping at their father way faster. Ellen ended up on Egon’s right while Merek was on his left. His eyes were wide, not expecting this to happen before they went back to their regular, non-shocked positions. He brought his arms around his children. There was no crying this time (mainly because they were all too tired); just pure resting against each other and making sure one another was still there.

After a little debate, Ellen and Merek convinced Egon to go to sleep. They argued that they would be on good behavior and wouldn’t get involved with any strenuous activities surrounding the clean-up due to their injuries, and because of that, their father needed more sleep than them (sine he _would_ get involved with those activities). With a sigh, he eventually relented. He might have seen their side of the argument, or he maybe remembered that _not_ listening to them at the start is why he was separated from them in the first place.

Nonetheless, he was eventually snoozing in the bed closest to the door (the Empress gave them two extra beds for their room). Quiet snores protruded from him occasionally, but neither sibling minded. They both stayed up for a little bit without any shirts on, allowing their wounded bodies to breathe. Ellen was the first to go and grab her borrowed nightgown. She was wearing pants like Merek, but since pants don’t really work with gowns, she had to step into the closet and take them off. When she stepped out, it was with the nightgown on. Once she got to her bed, Merek went and got his nightshirt.

He put it on, turned around, and was slightly confused at what he saw.

Ellen hadn’t made any effort to get into her bed. She just sat on top of her covers, fidgeting with the end of her nightgown, looking at the bedsheet immediately in front of her. She looked like she had a million things to say, but was worried about how it would be taken by him.

That’s when Merek realized the root of the issue: Ellen was probably worried sick too. On top of whatever hellish things they had in store for her, she didn’t know if _he_ was okay or not. He cleared his throat, which got her to look at him. With no other sounds, he opened his arms for her. She blinked. 

Then, she moved.

Merek grunted when a body slammed into his chest. The force caused them to fall over onto the bed. Merek felt her practically squeeze the life out of his body. Oh well. Certainly wasn’t the worst thing he’s felt over the past week or so. Moving so he wouldn’t hurt or jostle her, he eventually finessed his way under the covers, little sister still in his arms.

He’s glad she wanted to sleep with him. If she didn’t, he might have been the one to ask her to do the same. What can he say? He was constantly worried and on edge. He needed to feel her, make sure that he actually had her back. No doubt she felt the same. But before that, he felt her shuffle in his grasp.

Her voice was muffled against his chest, “Merek?

Oh boy, “Yes?”

“Did… did you say his name was Andrik?”

Uh, what? “Um… yes?”

He felt her shake her head, “Alanna and Andrik. I bet the only reason they got married and wanted to take over the world was because their names both started with ‘A’.”

Ah, so that’s where this was going. Merek felt himself smirking, “Well, I mean, bad guys just tend to be like that, I guess. Wouldn’t be the dumbest reason someone wanted to rule all of mankind we’ve seen, at least.”

The last noise of the night before either of them went to sleep was her letting out a little snort. Villains these days could be so unbelievable. As she slowly fell into dreamland in Merek’s arms, he was deep in thought about, well, everything, really.

There were things that would need to be taken care of. Wounds, deaths, others affected by the Didiza, but right now, that stuff didn’t matter. They were all back together, and they were all _alive._ With her face shoved in his chest, her _conscious, not soul broken_ face, he was finally able to sleep without anything bothering him.

He’s got lots to learn, whether it be about basic life or ruling a kingdom. In the end, his family will always be there to help him out, even if they aren’t _physically_ with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heres the end! thanks for reading if you did! 
> 
> i get that my world is confusing, and i probably wont post about it as much as i make it seem like i will, but i hope for now that it brought some joy to you like it brings to me! now i gotta go work on my big crossover fic, and after that, who knows lmao. i gotta list mile long of fic ideas i wanna do.
> 
> maybe ill work on my other multi-chap original fic. finish it and polish it up like i did this one. the two main characters would be Ellen and Merek again (cuz i like beating them up for some reason). thanks again! - Halo
> 
> please do let me know of any glaring typos that interrupt your reading! criticism is alright as long as you're respectful about it~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


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